UNITED STATES February 04 2016 8:45 PM     

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United  States silver scrap prices increased on Wednesday, while silver futures prices  at New York Mercantile Exchange settled higher on weak U.S. manufacturing data  that raised hopes the Fed may slow any planned interest rate hikes.

The  major silver scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index traded up on  Wednesday. The hallmarked silver scrap prices advanced to $11.863 an ounce and  non-hallmarked silver scrap prices gained to $10.53 an ounce.

The most  active March silver contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile  Exchange settled higher by 1.1 cents to $14.243 an ounce on  Wednesday.

Silver futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange settled  up on Wednesday and extending its recent rally on worries about global economic  growth and hopes for easier monetary policy after weak factory data.  

China's official measure of manufacturing in January fell to the lowest  since mid-2012, while factory growth across the euro zone slowed.