Miners also broadly up during Monday morning trading

Gold and silver were up in early trading Monday morning. Spot gold was trading some 0.2% higher at 10:15 a.m., with a bid price of $1,619.50 and an ask price of $1,620.50. Spot gold traded as high as $1,623.40 and as low as $1,613.20. The London afternoon reference price fix came in at $1,615, down $1.50 from its Friday price, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was up nearly 1.4%, bid at $29.15 per ounce with an ask price of $29.25. The morning high as of time of writing was $29.35 and the low was $28.78. Monday�s reference price was set at $28.85 in the London a.m., 55 cents per ounce lower than Friday’s price fix.

The European Union’s sovereign debt problems continue to be at the forefront of market concerns. Spain and Italy will hold bond auctions on Thursday and Friday. Also of concern are the needs of EU banks to raise equity capital. Italy’s UniCredit is holding a rights issue, for which share prices have been “steeply discounted” to attract buyers, Fox Business reported.

Other potential market movers are the Thursday releases of the Commerce Department’s December retail sales report and the Labor Department’s weekly initial unemployment claims report. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book, which summarizes economic and financial activity gathered and analyzed across all 12 U.S. Federal Reserve Bank districts.

A strengthening dollar and weakening euro continue to limit the upside for gold and silver, according to BullionVault‘s London Gold Market report, though gold continues to hold above its three-year support at $1,544.

&! #8220;Th e strength of the dollar is playing a role in limiting appetite (for commodities),” said Nick Trevethan, a Singapore-based senior commodity strategist at ANZ Bank. “But Europe is still a basket case and investors are hoping to see more easing out of the European Central Bank at some point.”

Turning to U.S. exchange trading, gold and silver trusts were moving higher.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing gains of 0.3%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up some 0.16%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up 1.5%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were up mid-morning as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was around 0.7% higher.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was up around 1.9%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was around 0.25% higher.

Gold mining shares were heading higher, Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) the exception.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of around 0.25%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up some 0.8%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was up 0.15%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was 1.7% higher.
• Newmont Mining was down around 0.3%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was up about 0.25%.

Silver mining shares also were higher mid-morning Monday.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was moving higher, up just over 1%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was up around 1.25%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was down 0.4%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was showing gains of more than 0.3%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up around 0.2%.

As of this writi! ng, Andr ew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.