US Scrap Gold prices stay stable; COMEX Gold drops on strong Dollar

UNITED STATES May 27 2015 11:35 AM
NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States gold scrap prices stayed stable on Tuesday, while gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange settled lower, with upbeat US data on new-home sales and consumer confidence helping to further strengthen the dollar and push prices for the metal to their lowest settlement in just over two weeks.

The major gold scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index stayed flat on Tuesday. The 9ct hallmarked gold scrap prices flat at $437.991 an ounce and 14ct hallmarked gold scrap prices stable at $683.267 an ounce. The 18ct hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct hallmarked gold scrap prices also traded flat at $875.983 ounce and $1069.867 an ounce respectively.

As per Scrap Register Price Index, the 9ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices also flat at $414.286 an ounce and 14ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices stable at $646.286 an ounce on Tuesday. The 18ct non-hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices are also traded stable to $828.571 an ounce and $1011.962 an ounce respectively.

The most active Aug gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange traded down $17.10 an ounce at $1,187.80 an ounce on Tuesday.

The dollar has been moving higher since Friday after the U.S. inflation data, amid mounting speculation the Federal Reserve will hike rates in either July or September. A number of Fed officials have indicated they believe the economic weakness in the U.S. has been due to transitory factors and will soon abate.

A rate hike will likely strengthen the dollar at gold's expense. Echoing Friday's remarks from Fed Chief Janet Yellen, Fed Vice Chairman Stanley said the central bank expects to follow a "gradual and relatively slow" rate hike path.

On the economic front, a number of U.S. reports were released on Monday with most indicating some upbeat data. New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in April declined due to a pullback in orders for transportation equipment, but were in line with economists' expectations. Home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas continued to show notable annual growth in the month of March, while new home sales rebounded more than expected in April.