* China April inflation higher than expected, industrial output weaker
* Gold may rise to $1,531 -technicals [ID:nL3E7GB04M]
* Coming Up: Germany final CPI for April; 0600 GMT (Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, May 11 (Reuters) - - Gold firmed a touch and silver rose more than 2 percent on Wednesday, as concerns about China's high inflation and waning economic growth are seen buoying interest in precious metals.
China's inflation in April was stronger than expected, at 5.3 percent on the year, while industrial output was considerably weaker than forecast. [ID:nLDE74A01W]
High inflation and lower economic growth in China, the world's second-largest economy, are likely to dampen risk appetite and support interest in gold, though reaction to the data was muted.
Spot gold rose by half a percent to $1,522.96 an ounce by 0615 GMT, building on gains in the past three sessions.
U.S. gold
"Gold is generally benefiting from the return of confidence from investors," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia. "They are very happy buying on the dip, as we see the same old problems hanging around."
Growing concern over Greece's fiscal status, dollar weakness and high oil prices continue to fuel nervousness in the financial markets, driving investors to seek safe haven in bullion. [ID:nLDE7491FC]
Brent crude was steady near $118 after a jump in China's implied oil demand to the third-highest level on record showed that Beijing's efforts to cool the economy of the second-largest oil consumer are doing little to dent use.
Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust remained unchanged at a one-year low, but those in the iShares Silver Trust , the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, extended a rise of 3 percent in the previous session and edged up 0.2 percent to a one-week high of 10,585.99 tonnes by May 10.
Spot silver rose as much as 2.3 percent to $39.34,
before easing to $39.19, on course for a fourth straight session
of gains. COMEX silver
Silver prices plunged more than 25 percent last week and gold nearly 5 percent, prompting buying in the physical market in Asia, dealers said.
"We saw buying when gold dipped below $1,500 from China, India and Indonesia, but not much scrap selling, as people are still bullish on gold," said a Hong Kong-based dealer.
Technical analysis echoed bullish sentiment in the physical market, as it indicated that gold could rise to $1,531 in the next 24 hours, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst. [ID:nL3E7GB04M]
"It's not beyond reason for gold to reach another record high, but the sell-off last week made some investors more cautious," said Heathcote of Investec Australia.
"They are not fully committed as yet and are more willing to take profit after decent gains. So it may take a while to see a new record."
Platinum group metals rose in tandem with gold and silver. Spot platinum edged up 0.3 percent to $1,798.99 an ounce in its fourth day of rise, and spot palladium rose by 0.7 percent to $730.22.
Precious metals prices 0615 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1522.96 7.81 +0.52 7.29 Spot Silver 39.19 0.74 +1.92 26.99 Spot Platinum 1798.99 5.44 +0.30 1.78 Spot Palladium 730.22 4.82 +0.66 -8.67 TOCOM Gold 3969.00 53.00 +1.35 6.44 59795 TOCOM Platinum 4732.00 45.00 +0.96 0.77 12202 TOCOM Silver 102.10 4.50 +4.61 26.05 3910 TOCOM Palladium 1917.00 30.00 +1.59 -8.58 395 COMEX GOLD JUN1 1523.10 6.20 +0.41 7.15 11982 COMEX SILVER JUL1 39.22 0.73 +1.91 26.76 8116 Euro/Dollar 1.4396 Dollar/Yen 80.86 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)