US Scrap Gold prices decline; Gold Futures settle sharply lower

UNITED STATES April 04 2016 10:35 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States scrap gold prices declined on Friday, while gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange settled sharply lower on Friday as investors weighed the likelihood that upbeat U.S. economic data may give the Federal Reserve a reason to raise interest rates.

The major gold scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index traded down on Friday. The 9ct hallmarked gold scrap prices declined to $441.447 an ounce and 14ct hallmarked gold scrap prices dropped to $688.657 an ounce. The 18ct hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct hallmarked gold scrap prices also down at $882.894 ounce and $1078.308 an ounce respectively.

According to Scrap Register Price Index, the 9ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices decreased to $417.554 an ounce and 14ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices down to $651.385 an ounce on Friday. The 18ct non-hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices are also traded lower at $835.108 an ounce and $1019.946 an ounce respectively.

The most active June gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled lower by $12.10 to $1,223.50 an ounce on Friday, after trading as low as $1,210.30. Prices on Thursday ended the first quarter up 16.4%—the best gain in a calendar quarter since 1986.

A closely watched jobs report showed that the U.S. added more jobs than economists forecast in March and the Institute for Supply Management said economic activity at U.S. manufacturing companies expanded for the first time in six months.

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