Gold and silver were showing healthy gains Friday morning, recovering somewhat from recent losses, as February U.S. new-home sales came in slightly weaker than expected. Spot gold was up 0.95% as of 10:40 a.m., having traded as high as 1,665.30 and as low as 1,646 an ounce, according to Kitco market data. The London morning reference price was fixed at $1,651, $15 an ounce higher than Thursday’s morning reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 1.46% gain, bid at $32.05, with an ask price of $32.15. The morning high as of time of writing was $32.26, and the low was $31.46. Friday’s reference price was set at $31.54 in the London a.m., 25 cents an ounce below Thursday’s reference price.

Sales of new, single-family homes dropped to a seasonally adjusted 313,000 in February, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Housing & Urban Development Department, 1.6% below a downwardly revised rate of 318,000 in January, but 11.4% higher than that of February 2011. Economic analysts, as a group, were expecting a gain of around 323,000 for February.

A slowdown in China’s economy has lowered market expectations for economic growth the last couple of days. China’s economic growth may slow to 8.5% in 1Q, down from 8.9% in 4Q 2011, a senior economist in the State Council’s Dept. of Macroeconomic Research Center said on Thursday. Falling property prices and a weakened European economy has raised government concerns about its policy changes, according to a China Daily report.

Gold bullion prices recovered to $1658 an ounce, recovering from an opening drop that followed a rally in Asian trading in London morning trading Friday, according to BullionVault’s London Gold Market report.

“Sentiment towards gold is as low as it has been for many years, possibly since the rally started,” Kamal Naqvi, head of commodity investor sales at Credit Suisse, told the Financial Times. “For virtually the first time this cycle, buying gold is a contrarian trade.”

In U.S. stock exchange trading, gold and silver trusts were moving up sharply.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was sharply higher, up more than 1.1%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up around 1.1%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up more than 1.9%.

Gold- and silver-mining ETFs also were showing strong morning gains.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing gains of around 2%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was up more than 2.8%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was moving sharply higher, up more than 2.5%.

Gold-mining shares were showing sizable morning advances, with Eldorado Gold more than 3% higher.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of some 1.65%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was up around 1.5%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was surging higher, up more than 3.2%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was some 1.8% higher.
• Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was up around 1.4%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was up around 1.85%.
• NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was surging higher, up more than 3.5%.
• Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was up more than 2.8%.

Silver-mining shares were surging higher, rising some 3% and more to close out the week.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was showing sharp gains, up nearly 3.4%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was up around 3.15%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing gains of around 3%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was up more than 5.8% on the morning thus far, having reported significantly higher revenue in 4Q 2011, though it reduced revenue estimates for 1Q 2012 yesterday.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up more than 4.5%.

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.