Gold and silver were heading lower Thursday morning as Greece’s tortuous budget and debt negotiations continue and amid several positive U.S. economic reports.

Spot gold was 0.5% lower Thursday morning, bid at $1,719.10 with an ask price of $1,720.10. Spot gold traded as high as $1,722.30 and as low as $1,704.30. The London morning fixed reference price came in at $1,716, $9.50 per ounce lower than Wednesday’s afternoon price fix, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was showing a 1.58% loss, bid at $32.97 per ounce with an ask price of $33.07. The morning high as of time of writing was $33.29 and the low was $32.56. Thursday’s reference price was set at $33.18 in the London a.m., 51 cents per ounce below Wednesday’s reference price fix.

The Labor Department reported that seasonally adjusted initial weekly claims for unemployment insurance dropped to 348,000, a 13,000 weekly decrease from the previous week’s revised 361,000. The four-week moving average was 365,250, slightly down from the previous week’s revised average of 367,000.

The Commerce Department reported that housing starts rose a greater-than-expected 699,000 in January, a 1.5% monthly increase over December’s revised 689,000 estimate and up 9.9% year-over-year. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that January PPI for finished goods rose a less-than-expected 0.1% on a monthly basis in January.

Spain had no problem selling its full allotment of three-year treasury notes, though at nearly a half-percent higher than its last such auction in early February. France’s auction of two-year notes also saw solid bidding, with yields below 1%. Spain’s economy is contracting, however, while Greece recently reported a 7% decline in Q4 GDP. The Spanish economy contracted for the first time in two years, with GDP falling 0.3%. That’s raising concerns that tough austerity measures, at this point in time, are driving EU economies over the brink.

“Germany is acting as a task-master imposing tough fiscal discipline. This will generate both economic and political tensions that could destroy the European Union … and push Europe into a deflationary debt spiral,” famed investment manager George Soros said at last month’s World Economic Forum in Davos, according to a Bloomberg report.

Gold and silver trusts were moving lower in stock exchange trading.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was moving lower, down more than 0.9%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was showing losses of around 0.6%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down nearly 0.9%.

The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was moving up, while the junior gold and silver mining ETFs were moving lower.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF was around 0.4% higher.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was showing losses of some 0.1%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was down more than 0.8%.

Gold mining shares were broadly higher, with Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) up sharply off news of a 33% dividend hike despite posting a larger net loss for Q4 2011.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of some 1.23%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down around 1%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was trading flatly.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was up some 2.8%.
• Kinross Gold was surging higher, up more than 6%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was down around 0.2%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was up more than 0.9%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was up more than 0.7%.

Silver mining shares were heading higher, Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) the exception.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was moving higher, up nearly 1.7%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was moving higher, up more than 1.4%.
• Pan American Silver was fluctuating between small gains and losses.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was up around 0.3%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was moving higher, up around 0.6%.

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.