Gold and silver were headed lower Tuesday morning on mixed U.S. economic data and a weak Spanish Treasury auction, as markets await an EU summit and a Supreme Court ruling on “Obamacare” later this week.

Spot gold was lower, down 0.83%, bid at $1,572.20 an ounce at 12:38 p.m. The morning high reached $1,583.30, with the low at 1,566.90, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was fixed at $1,576, $6 an ounce higher than Monday’s price fixing.

Spot silver was down 2%, bid at $26.99. The day’s high thus far was $27.49 and the low $26.74. The London a.m. reference price was fixed at $27.44, 72 cents an ounce higher than Monday’s reference price.

Sales of single-family homes rose for the third consecutive month in April, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas, which rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7%, beating consensus expectations of a 0.4% gain.

Consumer confidence fell a greater-than-expected 2.4 points to 62.0 in June, according to the Conference Board’s index, the fourth consecutive monthly decline. May’s reading was revised down from 64.9. The Board’s Expectations Index for June also declined, dropping 0.9 points to 63.5.

Spain had to pay nearly 2% more than last month to auction off three-month and six-month Treasury bills. The bid-to-cover ratio also was lower. The euro resumed its decline following the results.

Gold bullion prices hovered just above the $1,580-an-ounce level, around 0.6% higher than last week’s closing price in London morning trading Tuesday, BullionVault reported.

“After last week’s bearish price action, it is hard to get excited about a sustained rally [for gold],” BullionVault quoted Scotia Mocatta technical analysts’ latest research note. “In our opinion, gold has resumed its downtrend…we will retain this negative forecast while the gold price trades below the current June high at $1,641,” added Commerzbank senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph.

Gold and silver trusts were headed lower Tuesday morning in U.S. stock exchange trading.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing losses of around 0.75%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was trading around 0.65% lower.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down around 1.95%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were moving lower as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was down around 2%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was around 1.5% lower.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was down some 1.55%.

Gold mining shares were showing sharp morning losses.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was sharply lower, down around 4.45%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down sharply as well, off nearly 3.6%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was down around 0.9%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down around 1.95%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) was down around 1.8%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was showing losses of around 2%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was down some 4.25%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was around 1.2% lower.

Silver mining shares were down across the board for the second morning straight.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was down around 1.2%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down some 2.6%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was down around 2.25%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down some 0.7%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was showing losses of nearly 2.8%.

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.