REFILE-IShares Silver holdings exceed 200 million ounces

Tag : silver bullion

(Refiles to fix typo in headline)
NEW YORK, July 31 (Reuters) - Silver bullion held by iShares SilverTrust SLV.A, the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund(ETF), exceeded 200 million ounces this week on the back of stronginterest in precious metals as alternative investments.
IShares Silver Trust, which is managed by Barclays GlobalInvestors, had 201.8 million ounces of silver as of July 29, tradegroup Silver Institute said in a statement.
At the end of 2007, the top silver ETF held 168.7 million ounces ofsilver bullion.
"Silver's strong price performance over the past three and one-halfyears has brought renewed investor interest to the white metal,"said Michael DiRienzo, executive director of the Washington-basedSilver Institute, which helped launch the ETF in April 2006.
Silver <XAG=> has gained 20 percent year to date, followingthe strength of gold and other precious metals. It traded at $17.68an ounce on Thursday. (Reporting by Frank Tang)