Gold and silver settled lower Thursday after investors returned to stocks amid encouraging news from the Labor Department and stricter margin requirements from the CME Group Inc., which runs US futures markets.

Gold for August delivery closed down $32.50 at $1,748.80, and silver ended the session down 67 cents to $38.66.

The reversal in gold's recent ascent came after the Labor Department's better-than-expected report on weekly unemployment claims and the CME Groupraised the margin requirements for trade in a wide range of gold futures. Raising margins makes trading more expensive, thus discouraging some investors.

Despite the lower prices for gold and silver, shares of precious metals' mining companies turned in mixed results.

Numerous silver miners gained value. In late afternoon trading, Silver Wheaton Corp. rose 32 cents to $37.13 and Pan American Silver Corp. climbed 12 cents to $29.18.

Shares in most large gold mining companies gained. Barrick Gold Corp. added 18 cents to $49.84 and Newmont Mining Corp. jumped $2.59, or 4.6 percent, to $58.39.

The broader stock market posted robust gains. The S&P 500 jumped 61.55, or 5.5 percent to 1,182.31, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 519.72, or 4.9 percent, to 11,239.66 and the Nasdaq Composite vaulted 130.32, or 5.5 percent, to 2,511.25.

Networking provider Cisco jumped a day after reporting quarterly revenue and profits that topped scaled-back expectations.

Gold S&P Dow jones Unemployment