UNITED STATES October 23 2015 3:07 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States gold scrap prices dropped on Thursday in line with gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange suffered from their first decline in six sessions, giving up a year-to-date advance, as some strength in the US dollar helped to pull investment interest away from the precious metal.

The major gold scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index traded down on Thursday. The 9ct hallmarked gold scrap prices down to $424.296 an ounce and 14ct hallmarked gold scrap prices declined to $661.902 an ounce. The 18ct hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct hallmarked gold scrap prices also down at $848.592 ounce and $1036.414 an ounce respectively.

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According to Scrap Register Price Index, the 9ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices dropped to $401.332 an ounce and 14ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices down to $626.077 an ounce on Thursday. The 18ct non-hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices are also traded down to $802.663 an ounce and $980.32 an ounce respectively.

The most active December gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down by $4.40 to $1,183.10 an ounce on Thursday.

G gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange fell to 5-1/2 year lows earlier this year on expectations that the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates this year, potentially lifting the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Prices were pressured by a strong dollar, which surged after a dovish European Central Bank sent the euro tumbling and better-than-expected U.S. jobless claims revived hopes that the Federal Reserve may still raise rates this year.

Market expectations of higher rates have been shaken recently by sluggish U.S. data and concerns about the global economy.