Gold and silver prices were in positive territory Monday morning, as upbeat earnings from the likes of Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), optimism that EU leaders will find a solution to the euro zone debt crisis and good numbers from China about factory orders lent support to both precious metals and stocks.

Spot gold was up nearly 0.8% Monday morning, having hit a high of $1,663.20 and a low of $1,649.30. Spot gold was bid at $1,655 with an ask price of $1,666 per ounce at 11 a.m., while the London p.m. reference price fix came in at $1,652 an ounce, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was up some 1.3% and trading at $31.81 Bid, $31.91 Ask, having hit a morning high of $31.99 and a low of $31.35. Friday’s reference price was set at $31.70 in the London a.m.

Gold and silver trusts were moving higher in exchange trading Monday.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (AMEX:GLD) was more than 1% higher.
• The iShares Gold Trust (AMEX:IAU) was up over 1%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (AMEX:SLV) was 1.8% higher.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were moving up sharply.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX:GDX) was nearly 2.9% higher.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (AMEX:GDXJ) was up nearly 4.6%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (AMEX:SIL) was 4.2% higher.

Shares of gold miners were showing strong gains as well.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE:AEM) was more than 2.3% higher after taking a battering last week.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was nearly 3% higher.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was up over 3.1%.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was more than 1.2% higher.
• NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX:NG) was nearly 4% higher.

Silver miners’ shares were moving up sharply, with Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) and Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) showing particularly strong buying interest.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. was up more than 5.6%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was around 2.7% higher.
• Pan American Silver Corp. was up 5.6%.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) was showing gains of more than 4%.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up more than 4.8%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not own a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.