Gold was holding firm above $1,790 per ounce and silver was straddling $35 in Tuesday morning trading. Market participants continue to focus on developments in the euro zone, where Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s latest austerity budget is up for a vote in the Italian Parliament. The results may be viewed as a vote of confidence — or lack thereof — for Berlusconi’s government.

Spot gold was down some 0.2% mid-morning Tuesday, though up from its previous day’s close, having hit a high of $1,798.30 per ounce and a low of $1784.70 as of 10 a.m. Spot gold was bid at $1,791.80 with an ask price of $1,792.80. The evening reference price was fixed at $1,795 an ounce, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was just about flat, trading at $34.99 Bid, $35.09 Ask. The morning high as of time of writing was $35.24 per ounce, and the low was $34.59. Thursday’s reference price was set at $34.64 in the London a.m.

Gold and silver trusts were moving slightly lower Tuesday morning.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was some 0.4% lower.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was around 0.35% lower.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down about 0.35%.

Gold mining trusts were down, but the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was slightly up.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was nearly 0.6% lower.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was down nearly 0.2%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF was nearly 0.3% higher.

Shares of gold miners were showing losses Tuesday.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE:AEM) was some 1.1% lower.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was around 0.5% lower.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down some 0.9%.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was down around 0.5%.
• NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX:NG) was about 0.7% lower.

Silver miners’ shares were mixed, with Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE:SLW) and Silver Standard Resources Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRI) showing losses.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) was nearly 0.8% higher.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was up nearly 3%.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) was around 0.3% higher.
• Silver Wheaton was about 0.25% lower.
• Silver Standard Resources was around 0.45% lower.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not own a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.