Gold, Silver Head Lower as Spain, France Auction Bonds

Gold and silver continued to move lower Thursday morning. More encouraging
signs regarding the U.S. economy came in the form of the Labor Departments
report on last weeks new jobless claims , which fell to a seven-month low, while
the Commerce Department reported that permits for residential construction rose
10.9% , though new home construction fell 0.3% in October. In Europe, the
European Central Bank continued to support euro zone government bonds by
purchasing debt securities off France and Spain, which held treasury auctions.
However, the results were deemed lackluster by one euro zone bank bond market
analyst. Spot gold was down more than 1% around 10:15 a.m. Thursday, while spot
silver was more than 2.6% lower. Spot gold was bid at $1,743.40 per ounce, with
an ask price of $1,744.40, down sharply from its morning reference price fixing
for a second day. Gold traded as high as $1,751.20 and as low as $1,731.20. The
London morning reference price was set at $1,756, according to Kitco market data
. Spot silver was bid at $32.81 per ounce, with an ask price of $32.91. The
morning high as of time of writing was $33.32, and the low was $32.34. Mondays
reference price was set at $33.30 in the London a.m. Gold and silver trusts were
trending lower Thursday morning. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD ) was more than
1% lower. The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU ) was about 1.05% lower. The iShares
Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV ) was down between 2.5% and 2.8%. Gold and silver mining
ETFs were showing sizable morning losses. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF
(NYSE: GDX ) was down about 1.3%. The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF
(NYSE: GDXJ ) was around 1% lower. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL )
was some 0.75% lower. Shares of gold and silver miners were showing losses.
Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM ) was about 0.7% lower. Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:
ABX ) was showing losses between 1.5% and 1.6%. Goldcorp (NYSE: GG ) was down
around 1.3%. Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM ) was some 1.15% lower. NovaGold
Resources (AMEX: NG ) was down between 0.75% and 1% after yesterdays spike
higher. Silver mining shares were heading lower, with Hecla Mines (NYSE: HL )
the exception. Coeur dAlene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE ) was between 0.15% and 0.4%
lower. Hecla Mining was up about 0.2%. Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS )
was down nearly 1.1%. Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW ) was some 1.9% lower.
Silver Standard Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: SSRI ) was down nearly 3.7%. As of this
writing, Andrew Burger did not own a position in any of the aforementioned
stocks.