Gold and silver continued their dives Thursday morning as the European summit opened in Brussels and the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a key element in “Obamacare.”

Spot gold was down 1.25%, bid at $1,554.60 an ounce at 11:27 p.m. The morning high reached $1,574.30, with the low at 1,549.70, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was fixed at $1,558.50, $15 an ounce lower than Wednesday’s price fixing.

Spot silver was down 1.67%, bid at $26.49. The day’s high thus far was $27.13 and the low $26.16. The London a.m. reference price was fixed at $26.81, 2.5 cents an ounce lower than Wednesday’s reference price.

The Supreme Court upheld the keystone of President Obama’s health-care reform, which requires Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

“The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax. Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness,” Chief Justice John Roberts was quoted in wrote in ABC News’ report.

Seasonally adjusted weekly claims for unemployment insurance benefits dropped 6,000 last week from an upwardly revised 392,000 to 386,000, the Labor Dept. reported. The less volatile four-week moving average was essentially unchanged at 386,750.

The euro-U.S. dollar exchange rate was falling for the fourth day running Thursday as the EU summit opened in Brussels. The euro was trading as low as $1.2406, its lowest level since June 4 early today.

Gold bullion prices were back below $1,570 an ounce, down some 0.5%, in London morning trading, BullionVault reported. “There’s no semblance of a ‘safe haven’ [in gold] at the moment,” BullionVault quoted Société Générale’s Robin Bhar from a Reuters report.

“But as the price goes lower, that bid does come back as you maybe get some renewed investor interest,” Bhar added, citing sovereign wealth funds and central banks.

Gold and silver trusts were down sharply in U.S. stock exchange trading.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing losses of around 1.25%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was trading around 1.25% lower.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down around 1.65%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were falling hard as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was down around 2.5%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was around 3% lower.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL)was down some 3.4%.

Gold mining shares were showing sizable losses across the board.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was sharply lower, down around 3.9%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down some 2.2%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was down around 2.2%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down around 3.9%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) was down more than 4.2%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was showing losses of around 2.75%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was down more than 3%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was around 2.4% lower.

Silver mining shares were losing a lot of ground as well.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was down around 2%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down some 2.4%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was down more than 4.1%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down around 2.8%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was showing losses of around 4.3%.

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.