Gold and silver were falling Monday morning as disagreements between EU and Greek leaders over the terms of a second release of bailout funding threatens to delay agreements not only for a second round of bailouts, but the establishment of a permanent emergency “firewall” fund to replace the European Financial Stability Facility. Eurozone leaders continue to push for EU oversight of Greek budget decisions — a proposal Greece continues to reject.

Spot gold was nearly 0.3% lower, bid at $1,732.50 per ounce with an ask price of $1,733.50. Spot gold traded as high as $1,733.80 and as low as $1,722.70. The London afternoon reference price fix came in at $1,729, $3 per ounce higher than Friday’s reference price, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was showing a loss of nearly 1.2%, bid at $33.59 per ounce with an ask price of $33.69. The morning high as of time of writing was $33.73 and the low was $33.10. Monday’s reference price was set at $33.18 in the London a.m., 30 cents an ounce below Friday’s reference price.

In the U.S., the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that December personal income increased $61.3 billion (0.5%), slightly higher than consensus expectations. Disposable personal income increased $47.1 billion (0.4%) in December, in line with expectations. On the flip side of consumers’ balance sheets, personal consumption expenditures fell $2.0 billion (less than 0.1%).

Gold bullion rose to $1,728 per ounce Monday morning in London, down slightly from last Friday’s close, according to BullionVault’s London Gold Market Report. Chinese buyers were snapping up physical gold during the week-ling Lunar New Year holiday, according to a China Daily report.

“People seem crazy about gold, snatching it up more like a cheap cabbage than such a precious metal,” the paper quoted a Beijing resident.

The value of sales at two of Beijing’s top gold retailers, Caibai and Guohua, reportedly hit 600 million Yuan ($95.28 million) — a 49.7% rise on last year’s sales. The gold price in dollars meantime rose around 25% during the same period.

Turning to U.S. exchange trading, gold and silver trusts were moving lower.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was down about 0.3%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was showing losses of around 0.35%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was moving lower, down nearly 0.8%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were showing losses as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was down around 0.9%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was down some 1.3%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was about 0.85% lower.

Gold mining shares were were heading south, with Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) taking the biggest hit so far Monday morning.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines was showing losses approaching 3%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down nearly 0.5%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was down more than 1.5%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down between 1.2% and 1.3%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) was showing losses of more than 2%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was down more than 0.2%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was showing losses of around 1.3%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was unchanged.

Silver mining shares were broadly lower, though Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) and Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) were bucking the morning trend.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was moving lower, down around 0.45%.
• Hecla Mining was up some 0.2%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was moving between slight gains and losses of around 0.15%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was showing losses of some 0.2%.
• Silver Standard Resources was moving higher, up around 1.35%.

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.