UNITED STATES December 04 2015 4:35 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States gold scrap prices advanced on Thursday, while gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange settled up mainly due to finding support from a weaker U.S. dollar, but analysts warned that the gains may be short lived as the Federal Reserve prepares to deliver an interest-rate hike later this month. 

The major gold scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index traded up on Thursday. The 9ct hallmarked gold scrap prices rose to $395.542 an ounce and 14ct hallmarked gold scrap prices advanced to $598.915 an ounce. The 18ct hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct hallmarked gold scrap prices also gained at $767.84 ounce and $937.788 an ounce respectively.

According to Scrap Register Price Index, the 9ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices rose to $363.141 an ounce and 14ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices up to $566.5 an ounce on Thursday. The 18ct non-hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices are also traded higher at $726.282 an ounce and $887.032 an ounce respectively.

The most active December gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended slightly up by $7.40 an ounce to $1,053.80 an ounce on Thursday.

Gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange advanced after disappointment over the European Central Bank’s stimulus decision spurred a rout in global equities and the biggest jump in the euro since 2009.

Disillusionment with the ECB decision, which involved a rate cut and an extension in asset purchases, caught the attention of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who said in an address to Congress that “the market expected some actions that were not forthcoming.”