Gold and silver were rallying sharply higher Thursday even as the euro slipped lower versus the dollar and weekly U.S. unemployment claims were unchanged.

Spot gold was up 2.26%, bid at 1,575.10 an ounce as of 12:19 p.m. Prices reached as high as $1,584.80 and as low as $1,548.30, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was set above $1,600, at 1,602.50, a full $54 an ounce above Wednesday’s afternoon reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 3.34% gain, bid at $28.18 an ounce. The morning high as of time of writing was $28.98, with the low reaching $27.43. Thursday’s reference price was set at $28.77, $1.52 an ounce above Wednesday’s price fix.

Seasonally adjusted weekly claims for unemployment insurance were unchanged last week at 370,000, the Labor Dept. reported. The less volatile four-week moving average fell 5,000 to 375,000. Applications for unemployment benefits are near their four-year lows.

Gold bullion prices jumped higher in London morning trading Thursday, BullionVault reported, cutting this week’s 3.3% loss in dollar terms as the euro slumped to new lows.

“Relative strength is approaching extreme oversold territory,” BullionVault quoted the latest technical note from bullion bank Scotia Mocatta, “but there are no warning signs yet of a change in trend.”

“Gold is definitely in oversold territory, and there should be some good buying interest around the low in December,” Bloomberg quoted Dong Zhuying at Haitong Futures.

Gold and silver trusts were showing strong gains.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was up some 2.45%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up around 2.45%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was around 4% higher.

Gold- and silver-mining ETFs were surging higher as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing gains of around 4.75%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was up some 5.35%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was around 3.4% higher.

Gold-mining shares were rallying strongly.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was up around 5.35%.
  
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was more than 5% higher.
  
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was up around 5.2%.
  
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was up nearly 6.7%.
  
• Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was up around 6.7%.
  
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was showing gains of around 4.9%.
  
• NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was up nearly 5.7%.
  
• Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was up some 4.8%.

Silver-mining shares were surging higher.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was up around 3.5%.
  
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was more than 5% higher.
  
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing gains of around 8.25%.
  
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was up around 4.55%.
  
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up nearly 1.2%.

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.