Spot gold remained lower, off its recent record high and rangebound — roughly between $1,613 and $1,619 per ounce — overnight in Asia/Pacific and electronic trading after dropping sharply, from near $1,628 to around $1,610, in New York late Wednesday.

Weekly U.S. jobless claims dropped more than expected to 398,000, a three-month low, the week ended July 22, while claims for the July 15 week were revised up by 4,000 to 422,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported.

The news sent the U.S. dollar, U.S. stock futures and crude oil higher before the opening of stock exchange trading Wednesday. The inability of Congressional Democrats, Republicans and President Barack Obama to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling continues to hang over the markets, however, as does ongoing concern about the solvency of fiscally and economically challenged EU member countries.

Spot gold moved slightly lower after the release of the U.S. weekly jobless claims report and was trading at $1,613.40 Bid, $1,614.40 Ask early Thursday.  Spot silver dropped from around $40.25 to around $39.70 following release of the latest weekly jobless claims report and was trading at $39.85 Bid, $39.95 Ask, according to Kitco market data.

Spot gold was set at $1,613.50 at the London p.m. fix, down from $1,617.50 at the a.m. fix.  Spot silver was set at $40.19 per ounce.

Looking at early Thursday action on U.S. exchanges, gold and silver ETFs were headed south.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was off about 0.25%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) also was trading about 0.25% lower.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down nearly 1.5%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs also were moving lower.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was about 1.3% lower.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was off around 1.5%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was trading nearly 0.4% lower.

Shares of gold mining majors were decidedly mixed, with three of five listed here getting hit hard, and the other two showing nice gains early Thursday.

• Agnico Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE:AEM) was volatile and moving down sharply, between 2% and 3.8%.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was off more than 2%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down around 5.25%.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was up more than 1.8%.
• NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX:NG) was up nearly 1.3%.

Silver mining shares were sharply lower, with Coeur D’Alene Mines, Hecla Mining and Silver Standard Resources losing more than 2%.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) was off more than 2.5%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was trading nearly 2.75% lower.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) was nearly 1.5% lower.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) also was about 1.5% lower.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down around 2.1%.

The author does not hold positions in any of the above-mentioned investments.