iShares Silver Trust holdings rise 2.3 pct

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), said its bullion holdings rose 2.3 percent or 180.89 tonnes on March 20.

The New York-based trust, which issues securities backed by physical stocks of silver, now holds 8,180.44 tonnes of bullion, just shy of the 8,180.46 tonne record reached on Feb. 24 [ID:nLO432423].

The new figures compare to 7,999.55 tonnes of holdings reported last Wednesday. (Reporting by Paul Lauener; editing by Sue Thomas)