Gold was heading downward following the release of the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly jobless claims report after marking time in electronic, Asia-Pacific and London trading overnight and early Thursday.

Gold was trading in the $1,780-$1,800 range early Thursday before the weekly jobless claims report, then moved sharply lower, breaching $1,760, following news that jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 6 fell to a lower-than-expected 395,000, a four-month low.

With gold prices on a vertical rise over the past week, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange raised margins on its benchmark Comex gold futures contracts 22% to $7,425 per contract.

Spot gold was trading $1,759.50 Bid, $1,760.50 Ask early Thursday, having hit a high of $1,787.10 in London. The London PM gold fix was set at $1,760 per ounce.

Spot silver was trading at $38.25 Bid, $38.35 Ask, having hit a day’s high of $39.28. Spot silver was set at $39.18 in the London AM, according to Kitco market data.

On the exchanges, gold and silver trusts were moving lower early Thursday.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was trending lower, down around 1.9%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was down about the same in percentage terms.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was around 3% lower.

Gold and silver mining ETFs also were moving lower.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was 1.35% lower.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was down 0.17%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was trading nearly 1.3% lower.

Shares of gold miners were down, with Newmont Mining breaking ranks and moving higher.

• Agnico Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE:AEM) was showing losses of more than 1.5%.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was down 1.95%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was moving sharply lower, down nearly 3.1%.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was almost 1.2% higher.
• NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX:NG) was down nearly 3%.

Silver mining shares were sharply lower.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) was down around 0.7%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was nearly 0.3% lower.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) was sharply lower, down around 3.4%.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) was 2.2% lower.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) was trading about 0.4% higher.

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