Silver Climbs higher in early trading

London (Apr 4)  Silver for immediate delivery gained 0.5 percent to $19.9590 an ounce in London. Platinum was little changed at $1,442.62 an ounce. ETP holdings of the metal rose 0.6 ton to a record 80.5 tons, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Palladium lost 0.1 percent to $788.24 an ounce. Prices climbed to $801.53 on March 24, the highest since August 2011.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union led more than 70,000 workers on strike in South Africa since Jan. 23 at mines of the biggest platinum producers. The leaders of Lonmin Plc and its union went head-to-head in front of miners at a Johannesburg rally yesterday to put across their positions.

Source: BusinessWeek