Silver hits 27-year high at $17.90/oz on firm gold

SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Silver rallied to its highest level since December 1980 at nearly $18 an ounce on Thursday, on fund buying as gold held near record highs.

Spot silver <XAG=> hit a bid high of $17.90 an ounce, up from $17.76/17.81 late in New York on Wednesday.

Gold <XAU=> rose to $940.10/940.90 an ounce from $934.80/935.60 an ounce late in New York. Gold jumped to an historic high at $945.20 on Wednesday on record-high crude oil. (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)