Gold, Silver Down on Weak China, EU Data

Gold and silver were moving lower Thursday morning as weak Chinese and EU economic reports led to selling, while U.S. weekly unemployment claims continued to fall last week, hitting a four-year low.

Spot gold was down 0.86% as of 10:50 a.m., having traded as high as $1,641.50 and as low as $1,627 to start off the day’s trading, according to Kitco market data. The London morning reference price was fixed at $1,636, $12.50 an ounce lower than Tuesday’s morning reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 2.11% loss, bid at $31.49 with an ask price of $31.59. The morning high as of time of writing was $32, and the low was $31.20. Monday’s reference price was set at $31.79 in the London a.m., 43 cents an ounce below Tuesday’s reference price.

The Labor Dept.’s advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 348,000 for the week ended March 17, a drop of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised 353,000. That’s the lowest since February 2008, while the last three months have seen the greatest hiring in two years, with employers hiring an average 245,000 people from December through February. Last week’s unemployment claims drop also brought the four-week moving average down to 355,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised 356,250 average.

Gold bullion prices dropped sharply in London morning trading Thursday, coming close to a 2012 low of below $1,634 an ounce following worse-than-expected European economic and China manufacturing data, according to BullionVault’s London Gold Market report.

“We saw some bearish signs, but the market seems to be holding well. The upside at $1,800 is still looking quite heavy, and investors are waiting for a cue” to buy gold, according to Standard Bank’s head of commodities, Bruce Ikemizu. “We feel that gold is consolidating and remains vulnerable to the next leg lower,” added Russell Browne at bullion bank Scotia Mocatta in New York.

In U.S. stock exchange trading, gold and silver trusts were moving lower, with the iShares Silver Trust down sharply.

The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was moving lower, down nearly 0.8%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was down around 0.75%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down more than 2%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were down sharply for the second morning running.

The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) showed losses of more than 1.9%.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) had losses of some 2.20%.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) moved sharply lower, down more than 3%.

Gold mining shares were showing sharp losses as well.

Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing losses of around 0.8%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down around 1.25%.
Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was down around 1.6%.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was some 0.8% lower.
Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was down around 1%.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was down some 1.25%.
NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was down nearly 3%.
Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was down nearly 1.5%.

Silver mining shares were heading south fast.

Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was taking a dive, down some 3.33%.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down more than 2.4%.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing losses of some 1.7%-1.8%.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down around 2.35% as it releases earnings this morning.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down more than 2.2%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.