Gold and silver dipped Thursday even though the European Central Bank cut its interest rate to 0.75%. The ECB also cut its overnight deposit rate to zero. The ECB’s cuts came on the heels of an unexpected rate cut issued by The Peoples Bank of China. That country is currently the world’s largest consumer of gold.

Spot gold finished down 0.8% at the end of Thursday’s trading, with a final bid of $1,603.30 per ounce, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver finished about 2.1% lower, with a final bid of $27.70. Thursday’s high for silver prices reached $27.80 and the low was $27.70.

Gold bullion ended at $1,606 per ounce for Thursday’s trading session in London, according to BullionVault.

“Our fundamental gold view is unchanged, and we still see upside for the metal,” says the latest Commodities Daily from Standard Bank in London as quoted in Bullion Vault.

“We would see any potential sell-off in gold after (today’s European rate) announcement as a short-term opportunity” to buy gold, the bank’s analysts said.

Gold and silver trusts experienced losses Thursday.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was about 1.1% lower.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) dropped about 1.1%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) fell about 2.2%.

Movement in gold- and silver-mining ETFs was down, too.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) fell about 1.5%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was nudged 1% lower.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) tripped about 1.7%.

Gold-mining shares showed losses Thursday.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) dropped about 0.5%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down about 1.6%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) suffered sharp losses of around about 3.6%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down about 1.1%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) sunk close to 1.5%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) showed losses of about 1.4%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was a flat.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) was about 1.5% lower.

Most silver-mining shares slid heavily Thursday.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) slid about 2.4%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) sharply dropped about 3%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was also about 3% lower.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) dipped around 0.6%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down about 2.6%.

As of this writing, Angela Nazworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.