Spot silver closed up $0.28, or 0.78%, at $36.40 an ounce Tuesday and is trading very close to the 31-year high of $36.74 reached in early March.
Gold prices ended near steady levels, as the market place worldwide was calmer. Spot gold last traded up $0.10 at $1,427. The current low U.S. dollar and rising inflationary pressures are bullish for the precious metals markets.
Wall Street stocks ended lower following a strong three-day rally. The United Nations military action in Libya may have peaked and the Japanese nuclear crisis may be easing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 17 points, or 0.15%, at 12,018, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 4.61 points, or 0.36%, to 1293.
Copper rose on Tuesday as worries about Japan's nuclear crisis eased and boosted risk appetite, and with the support of a weaker dollar, but poor Chinese import data weighed on demand prospects.
Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange closed at $9,490 a tonne after falling 1.2% on Monday to close at $9,405.
Aluminium ended at $2,600 a tonne from $2,570 a tonne while zinc finished at $2,331.5 from $2,280 a tonne.
Tin finished at $30,150 from a last bid of $29,650 a tonne and nickel finished at $26,350 a tonne from a close of $26,750 a tonne.
Oil prices were also a concern for some investors, as crude-oil futures rose to $104 a barrel.
London's main market headed into negative territory following higher-than-expected inflation data and government borrowing figures. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.4% at 5762 points.
The French The Cac 40 index edged up 0.32%, or 12 points, at 3916, whilst the Dax index of German shares drifted up 0.03%, or 0.08 points, to 6816.
Tokyo stocks jumped more than 4%, thanks to signs of progress in containing Japan's nuclear crisis. The Nikkei index ended 401 points or 4.36% higher at 9608 - well above the key 9500 level.
The Australian share market jumped out of the blocks yesterday with the All Ordinaries leaping almost 1%, before the benchmark index continued to ease over the course of the day to end 2 points lower at 4733. The ASX SPI 200 was up 30 points at 4694.
The Australian dollar rose against the greenback, and is currently trading at USD1.010, it held steady against other global currencies buying GBP0.61, EUR0.71 and JPY81.7.
