UNITED STATES September 07 2015 11:35 AM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States gold scrap prices stayed almost flat on Friday, while gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange settled slightly down after US payrolls data failed to allay uncertainty over the prospect of a near-term interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve.

The major gold scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index traded almost flat on Friday. The 9ct hallmarked gold scrap prices remained flat at $411.056 an ounce and 14ct hallmarked gold scrap prices unchanged at $641.247 an ounce. The 18ct hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct hallmarked gold scrap prices also stayed flat at $822.111 ounce and $1004.072 an ounce respectively.

According to Scrap Register Price Index, the 9ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices remained stable at $388.808 an ounce and 14ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices traded flay at $606.54 an ounce on Friday. The 18ct non-hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices are also unchanged at $777.616 an ounce and $949.728 an ounce respectively. 

The most active December gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled slightly down by $0.30 at $1,121.40 an ounce on Friday, While spot gold was down 0.4 per cent at $1,120.80 an ounce at 2.49 pm EDT. 

December Comex gold futures ended its second consecutive week in negative territory, but managed to hold key support levels, closing Friday’s session at $1,121.40 an ounce, down almost 1% on the week.

Data from the Labor Department on Friday showed that non-farm payrolls rose 173,000 last month, a slowdown from July's upwardly revised gain of 245,000. 

However, a drop in the unemployment rate to a near 7-1/2-year low and an acceleration in wages kept alive prospects of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase later this month. A top Federal Reserve policymaker said the data on the U.S. jobs market was "good" and did not change the outlook for monetary policy. 

Gold has come under pressure this year from expectations the Fed will hike rates for the first time in nearly a decade. The metal has benefited from ultra-low interest rates, which cut the opportunity cost of holding bullion while pressuring the dollar. 

The Fed has already indicated that the timing of a hike is largely data-dependent. The absence of Chinese buyers also weighed on gold, with markets in the major bullion consumer closed last week for public holidays.

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