Gold and silver were moving higher Thursday morning following further indications of weakening among Europe’s economies, tepid U.S. employment and durable-goods data and an uneventful European Union summit.

Spot gold was up 0.44%, bid at $1,569.20 an ounce as of noon. Prices were recovering, reaching as high as $1,579.10 and dropped as low as $1,563, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was set at $1,568.50, $19.50 an ounce above Wednesday’s afternoon reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 1.76% gain, bid at $28.33 an ounce. The morning high as of time of writing was $28.67, with the low reaching $27.96. Thursday’s reference price was set at $28.08, 32 cents an ounce higher than Wednesday’s price fix.

Seasonally adjusted weekly claims for unemployment insurance were little changed last week, falling 2,000 to 370,000, the Labor Dept. reported, an indication of ongoing modest growth in employment,

The Commerce Dept. reported that new durable goods orders rose 0.2% in April, with much of the strength found in the automobile sector. April’s rise follows an exceedingly sharp drop of nearly 4% in March.

Mired in its second recession since 2007-2008, Great Britain reported that Q1 GDP slumped more than initially announced, falling 0.3% between January and March as construction spending dropped, according to the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics, leading markets to believe that Britain’s Monetary Policy Committee will boost its asset purchases and quantitative easing.

The price of gold bullion rose 2% from yesterday’s low, reaching $1,569 an ounce in London morning trading Thursday, BullionVault reported.

“We assume Grexit occurs on Jan. 1, 2013,” BullionVault quoted Citigroup economist Michael Saunders in a new report, “raising the odds of a Greek exit from the eurozone to 50%-75% in the next year or two.'”

“Citi’s base scenario sees ‘Greece staying in the European Union and receiving external loan support’ — an idea mooted by German weekly magazine Der Spiegel ahead of Wednesday night’s ‘informal’ summit of EU leaders,” Adrian Ash wrote.

Gold and silver trusts were moving higher.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing gains of around 0.36%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up around 0.35%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up around 1.35%.

Gold mining ETFs were higher, with the iShares Silver Trust moving lower.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing small gains.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was up some 0.35%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was around 0.5% lower.

Gold mining shares were putting in a mixed performance thus far on Thursday.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was up more than 2.1%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up around 0.3%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was around 2.2% higher.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down around 0.65%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) was up some 0.6%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was showing gains of around 0.3%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was down between 1.5% and 2%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was down around 0.15%.

Silver mining shares continued their downward slide, Hecla Mining the exception.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was down nearly 0.7%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was some 1.85% higher.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing losses of nearly 1.9%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down around 1%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was some 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.