Gold and silver prices were moving higher Thursday morning as stocks moved lower following data on U.S. weekly unemployment for the first week of January, as well as December retail sales.

Spot gold was trading about 0.5% higher at 10:45 a.m., with a bid price of $1,651.50 per ounce and an ask price of $1,652.50. Spot gold traded as high as $1,663.20 and as low as $1,650. The London afternoon reference price fix came in at $1,661, $25.50 per ounce higher than Wednesday’s reference price, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was up 1.33%, bid at $30.37 per ounce with an ask price of $30.47. The morning high as of time of writing was $30.81 and the low was $30.24. Thursday’s reference price was set at $30.58 in the London a.m., 77 cents per ounce higher than Wednesday’s price fix.

A stronger euro/USD exchange rate likely is contributing to gold and silver’s move higher. The dollar weakened against the euro Thursday as borrowing costs for Spain and Italy dropped. Spain’s treasury reported that it sold 10 billion euros ($12.7 billion) of bonds, twice the targeted amount, with yields a full percentage point lower than previous auctions, according to a New York Times report. Italy’s entire 8.5 billion euro ($10.8 billion) allotment of 12-month bills sold out at yields half or more less than previous auctions.

Here in the U.S., seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims for the week ending Jan. 7 rose to 399,000, up 24,000 from the previous week’s revised 375,000. The four-week moving average was 381,750, up 7,750 from the previous week’s average of 374,00.

December 2011 retail and food services’ sales totaled $400.6 billion, up 0.1% from November and 6.5% year-over-year, the Commerce Department reported. Total 2011 sales were up 7.7%, and sales ex-autos were up 7.3%.

Gold and silver prices hit a one-month high in London morning trading Thursday, according to BullionVault‘s London Gold Market Report.

“Because gold is easy to sell, it has seen the same flight to cash that risk assets such as equities have suffered,” wrote Mark Dampier, the head of research at UK equity and fund brokerage Hargreaves Lansdown, in Money Marketing magazine. “The attractions of gold remain undiminished … I believe the fall back in price could present a buying opportunity,” he added, “advising investors to consider ‘more risky and potentially more rewarding’ exposure to gold through mining stocks.”

Gold and silver trusts were showing healthy gains in Thursday morning activity on U.S. exchanges.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing gains of 0.75%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up 0.7%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up 1.5%.

Gold mining ETFs were showing gains, while the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was flat.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing gains approaching 0.9%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was up 0.7%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF was flat.

Gold mining shares were mixed to broadly higher, with shares of Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) surging up more than 4%.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was mostly flat.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up about 0.2%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was down around 0.6%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was up 1.35%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was up just shy of 0.8%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was nearly 3% higher.
• Yamana Gold was up about 4.4%.

Silver mining shares were showing strong gains, with Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) the exception. Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was recovering some ground after Wednesday’s staggering losses.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was moving higher, up some 1.8%.
• Hecla Mining was up around 4.1%.
• Pan American Silver was down more than 0.8%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was showing gains of 1.45%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up some 2.65%.

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.