Silver rises nearly 2% as dollar falls

Silver prices rose on Tuesday, as the US dollar fell against most currencies, and after the release of weak economic data.

The US building permits index was at 1.59 million last month, lower than forecasts of 1.67 million.

The housing starts index was at 1.56 million units in September, lower than forecasts of 1.61 million units.

The power outage crisis in China is continuing, which raises concerns about the world's second largest economy growth, especially amid weak supply of energy sources such as coal.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by 0.2% to 93.7 points as of 19:53 GMT, after hitting a high of 93.9 points and a low of 93.5 points.

Silver spot futures rose 1.9% to $23.7 an ounce as of 19:53 GMT, after hitting a day high of $24.18 and a low of $23.22.