Silver prices slide nearly 5 pct to 7-week low

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Silver prices fell nearly 5 percent to their lowest since late November on Thursday, tracking losses in gold, as both metals suffered from a dearth of investment demand and gains in the dollar.

The prospect of tighter monetary policy in China, the largest consumer of many industrial commodities, also hit the metal, which has a far greater industrial demand base than gold.

Spot silver <XAG=> touched a low of $27.40 an ounce and was bid at $27.43 an ounce at 1552 GMT, against $28.76 late in New York on Wednesday. (Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by James Jukwey)