Silver tumbles 3% below $17 as dollar hits three-month high

Silver futures slid 3% in American trade to April 17 lows as the dollar index rose to January 22 highs, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 07:09 GMT, silver futures due on May 15 shed 3.22% to $16.610 an ounce from the opening of $17.163, while the dollar index rallied 0.68% to 90.93 from the opening of 90.32, marking three-month highs. 

Earlier US data showed the preliminary services PMI rose to 54.4 from 54 in March, beating forecasts of 54.3, while manufacturing PMI rose to 56.5 from 55.6 in March, beating expectations of 55.2. 

Existing home sales rose 1.1% in March to an annualized 5.60 million units, compared to a 3% rise in February to 5.54 million, beating expectations of a 0.2% rise to 5.55 million units.