Gold continued its march higher in electronic, Asia-Pacific and London trading Wednesday, moving up from a low just above $1,740 per ounce to nearly $1,780 as the trading day shifted to the New York time zone. It appears that investors and traders haven’t completely shaken fears of further economic weakness and the ongoing difficulties associated with fully coming to grips with sovereign debt in the European Union and U.S.

Spot gold was set at $1,772 per ounce at the London PM fix and was trading at $1,772.30 Bid, $1,773.30 Ask in early NY trading Wednesday. Spot silver was set at $38.31 at the London fix and was trading at $38.37 Bid, $38.47 Ask, according to Kitco market data.

Turning to exchange trading, gold and silver trusts were showing strong gains early Wednesday.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was moving higher, up 2.35%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up about the same percent.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was nearly 2.9% higher.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were moving lower.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was flat to slightly lower, down 0.1%.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was down between 0.3% and 0.45%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was trading between 1.7% and more than 2% lower.

Shares of gold miners were trading higher, with the exception of Newmont Mining.

• Agnico Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of around 1.3%.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was trading around 0.9% higher.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was moving higher by about 0.1%
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was down around 0.7%.
• NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX:NG) was moving higher, up around 1.2%.

Silver mining shares were sharply lower.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) was down around 3.3%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down more than 3.4%.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) was around 1.8% lower.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) was down around 2%.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) was nearly 1.5% lower.

The author does not hold positions in any of the above-mentioned investments.