US Silver Scrap prices gain; Silver Futures fall further

UNITED STATES December 07 2016 6:15 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States silver scrap prices gained on Tuesday, while silver futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange closed higher as expectations for an upcoming interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve continued to weigh on the precious metal.

The major silver scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index rose on Tuesday. The hallmarked silver scrap prices gained by 1.023 percent to $13.822 an ounce and non-hallmarked silver scrap prices advanced to $12.269 an ounce.

The most active March silver contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 8.9 cents to settle at $16.81 an ounce on Tuesday. 

Both a strong dollar and higher interest rates are typically bearish for bullion, which is denominated in dollars and struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when borrowing costs rise.