From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold and silver traded slightly lower in Asia and London on Thursday before they rose sharply at the New York open to climb as high as $759.55 and $10.78 per ounce respectively.

Both silver and Gold Prices then fell back off in late morning trade and ended not far from their lows with losses of 3.44% and 1.25% for the session.

On the data front, the US Labor Dept. reported Thursday that the number of people continuing to draw unemployment benefits jumped by 3% to 3.84 million in late October, far out-stripping analyst forecasts of 3.74 million.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P plummeted once again on worries over the health of the economy. After Wednesday's 5% losses, the three indices suffered losses of roughly 5% more on Thursday.

Oil fell to the lowest since March 21, 2007 on more economic and demand worries while the US Dollar index rose as the Bank of England cut by a larger than expected 150 basis points – a massive 1.5% – to 3%. The European Central Bank cut by 50 basis points to 3.25%. 

Treasury bonds rose only slightly as concerns about the pending over-supply needed to fund government spending battled safe-haven buying amid yet further sharp losses in equities.

The Gold Price in Euros fell to about €576, platinum lost $28 to $835, and copper fell nearly 10 cents to about $1.72.

Gold and silver equities rose over 3% at the open, but they then fell back off for most of the rest of trade and ended with about 9% losses.

Friday at 12:30 GMT brings Oct.'s official US jobs data. Non-farm Payrolls are expected down by 200,000, the Unemployment Rate is expected up at 6.3%, and Hourly Earnings are expected at just 0.2% growth.

At 14:00 follows the Pending US Home Sales report for Sept., expected at -3.4%, and Wholesale Inventories for the same month, expected at 0.3%. The finish the week, Consumer Credit for September is expected to show zero change.