Gold and silver continued to rebound from Tuesday’s steep drop early Thursday as the Labor Department reported a slight increase in weekly unemployment claims and some 60% of Greek bondholders had agreed to the terms of a critical debt swap.

Spot gold was up 0.6%, having traded as high as $1,703.20 and as low as $1,688.20, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was fixed at $1,690, a sharp $12.50 per ounce increase from Wednesday’s reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 0.45% gain, bid at $33.58 with an ask price of $33.68. The morning high as of time of writing was $34.11 and the low was $33.27. Thursday’s reference price was set at $34.09 in the London a.m., 92 cents an ounce above Wednesday’s reference price.

Seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance rose 8,000 to 362,000 for the week ended March 3 from a revised previous week’s 354,000. The four-week moving average increased 250 to 355,000.

About 60% of private sector Greek bondholders have agreed to the terms of a long-term debt swap, paving the way for what’s being called “the biggest sovereign restructuring in history, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report. The bond swap will reduce Greece’s privately held debt by 53.5%. Investors have until 10 p.m. Athens time to sign on to the deal.

The dollar price of gold bullion was struggling to stay above $1700 an ounce in London trading Thursday morning, according to BullionVault’s London Gold Market report.

“(A bond swap failure) could trigger a default, resulting in contagion and a crippling credit squeeze,” Swiss precious metals refiner MKS warned Wednesday.

“When equities drop, the pool of available funds for investing in commodities will shrink and gold will be in a bad position,” one trader added. “Gold is a very risky asset … when gold becomes volatile, it becomes much more volatile than currency or bond markets.”

Gold and silver trusts also continued to recover from Tuesday’s drop.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was moving higher, up more than 0.6%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up more than 0.65%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up some 0.7%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were higher.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was up around 0.6%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was showing gains of some 1.7%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was up nearly 1.9%.

Gold mining shares were broadly higher, Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) and NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) the exceptions.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of some 0.3%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up around 0.2%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was slightly higher, up less than 0.1%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was sharply higher, up around 1.55%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) was up more than 0.9%.
• Newmont Mining was down nearly 0.2%.
• NovaGold Resources was down some 0.5%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was sharply higher, up nearly 2%.

Silver mining shares heading higher after yesterday’s sharp fall.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was showing gains of nearly 1%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was up around 1.7%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing gains of around 0.3%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was up more than 1.35%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was showing gains of nearly 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.