UNITED STATES July 17 2015 5:38 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States gold scrap prices continued to decline on Thursday in line with gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell to an eight-month low on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates in coming months.

The major gold scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index traded lower on Thursday. The 9ct hallmarked gold scrap prices rose to $416.276 an ounce and 14ct hallmarked gold scrap prices declined to $649.39 an ounce. The 18ct hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct hallmarked gold scrap prices also down at $832.551 ounce and $1016.822 an ounce respectively.

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According to Scrap Register Price Index, the 9ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices dropped to $393.745 an ounce and

14ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices down to $614.242 an ounce on Thursday. The 18ct non-hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices are also traded down to $787.49 an ounce and $961.788 an ounce respectively.

The most active August gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange last traded down by $3.60 at $1,143.80 an ounce on Thursday.

The Greece parliament late Wednesday voted to accept harsh austerity measures in order to qualify for further financial aid from the International Monetary Fund and European Union. Most expected Greece’s parliament to vote yes on the new debt plan that was agreed upon earlier this week. The years-old Greek debt crisis has moved to the back burner of the market place, for now. The IMF is already questioning whether Greece can uphold some of the economic reforms laid out in the agreement.

European and U.S. stock markets were higher, partly on the Greece news, while their bond markets were mostly lower. The market place on Wednesday got a more hawkish tone from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in her testimony before a US House of Representatives committee. 

Yellen said the Federal Reserve is on a path to raise U.S. interest rates yet this year, amid improving U.S. economic growth and despite global worries that include the Greece debt crisis and a shaky Chinese stock market. Yellen’s remarks helped to boost the US dollar index to a six-week high on Thursday.

(This article is researched and compiled by Vibin Antony on behalf of Scrap Register. Send in your suggestions and comments to editor@scrapregister.com)