UNITED STATES December 15 2016 8:30 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): United States gold scrap prices declined on Monday, while gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange settled down up as investors braced for Wednesday’s U.S. interest-rate decision by Federal Reserve policy makers.

The major gold scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index showed down trend on Monday. The 9ct hallmarked gold scrap prices declined to $388.576 an ounce and 14ct hallmarked gold scrap prices dropped to $606.178 an ounce. The 18ct hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct hallmarked gold scrap prices also traded down at $777.152 ounce and $949.161 an ounce respectively.

According to Scrap Register Price Index, the 9ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices dropped to $367.545 an ounce and 14ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices down to $573.37 an ounce on Monday. The 18ct non-hallmarked gold scrap and 22ct non-hallmarked gold scrap prices are also traded lower at $735.09 an ounce and $897.789 an ounce respectively.

The most active February gold contract on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended slightly down by $12.30 an ounce to $1,075.30 an ounce on Monday, the lowest settlement since December 03. Prices had settled at a near-six-year low under $1,054 on December 02.

Gold futures prices at New York Mercantile Exchange settled on Monday as investors turned their attention to Wednesday’s highly anticipated outcome of the final Federal Reserve meeting of 2015 amid expectations for a 25 basis point rate hike, the first since June 2006. 

The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade at the conclusion of its two day policy meeting on Wednesday. The central bank will also release its latest forecasts for economic growth and interest rates. 

Fed Chair Janet Yellen is to hold what will be a closely-watched press conference 30 minutes after the release of the Fed's statement, as investors look for signals about the path of future rate hikes.