UNITED STATES August 25 2016 7:21 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States silver scrap prices declined on Wednesday, while silver futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange turned lower as the dollar strengthened and markets looked ahead to a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that will be closely watched for further clues on US interest rate policy. 

The major silver scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index traded down on Wednesday. The hallmarked silver scrap prices declined to $15.51 an ounce and non-hallmarked silver scrap prices tumbled to $13.767 an ounce.

Meanwhile, the most active December silver contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 37.7 cents at $18.688 an ounce on Wednesday.

Precious metals and the dollar have vacillated amid shifting expectations about the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy, ahead of a closely watched retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will speak on Friday.