A moderate rise in gold prices featured trading on a generally quiet bullion market during the week under review. Silver also edged up.
Gold prices resumed higher on good local demand and moved up further till the auction of Bank of England (BOE). However, it reacted sharply after the auction by BOE and steep fall in overseas markets. But later on, it recovered smartly and also posted gains due to renewed local demand at the fag-end of the week.
Silver prices moved in a narrow range and was quoted slightly higher on stray industrial demand.
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Standard gold started higher at Rs 4,350 and hovered between Rs 4,380 and Rs 4,345 before closing at Rs 4,360 as compared to Rs 4,340 last week, showing a gain of Rs 20.
22-carat gold also opened higher at Rs 4,025 and moved up to Rs 4,050 before closing at Rs 4,035 as against Rs 4,015, disclosing an identical rise of Rs 20.
Ten-tola gold (.999 purity) was quoted higher at the end of the week at Rs 51,100 as against Rs 50,800.
Silver spot (.999 fineness) edged up to Rs 7,830 from Rs 7,825 previously.
Tenderable silver also inched up to Rs 7,835 from Rs 7,830.
Raw-silver (.916 fineness) ruled quietly steady at Rs 7,700.
Oils and oilseeds: A sharp fall in castor oil prices marked trading on the oils and oilseeds market during the week. Edible oils moved in a narrow range.
Castor oil commercial declined sharply on lack of demand from soap manufacturers. Castorseeds also dropped in unison.
In the industrial section, castor oil commercial fell sharply by Rs 14 to close at Rs 382 as against Rs 396 at the end of the last week. Castorseeds bold madras was quoted lower at Rs 1,760 as compared to the last weekend level of Rs 1,830, showing a loss of Rs 70. However, linseed oil resumed higher at Rs 270 on good demand from paint industry but declined afterwards to close at Rs 265 unchanged from the last weekend level.
Turning the edible section, groundnut oil opened slightly higher at Rs 360 on stray buying support from consumers but declined to close at Rs 355 as compared to the last weekend level of Rs 357, showing a loss of Rs 2. However, imported palm oil resumed higher at Rs 212 and closed also at the same level as compared to Rs 210 previously showing a gain of Rs 2.
Moving to the futures section, castorseeds June contract opened lower at Rs 1,814 on profit taking by stockists and later ended at Rs 1,779 on May 26. It was not traded on May 27. The September contract opened at Rs 1,858 and closed at Rs 1,794.
In the castor oil international contract, June delivery was finished at Rs 396 as compared to the last weekend level of Rs 409, showing a loss of Rs 13.
Non-ferrous metals: A firm trend was witnessed in the local non-ferrous metals market last week.
Copper heavy scraps improved by Re 1 at Rs 118.50 a kg, while copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings firmed up by 50 paise each to Rs 101, Rs 91.00 and Rs 97.00 a kg, respectively. Aluminium utensils were quoted at Rs 69.00 a kg.
In virgins, nickel cathodes and tin slabs firmed up by Rs 7 and Rs 6 to Rs 615 and Rs 378 a kg, respectively. Copper wirebar looked up by Rs1.50 to Rs 127.00 a kg on reduced supplies of imported materials against better industrial demand. Lead ingots eased by 50 paise at Rs 34.50 a kg. Other metals were quoted as under : aluminium ingots Rs 90.50 and zinc slabs Rs 89.25.
Sugar: Sugar prices also firmed up last week. Both the grades ruled firm.
Small-grade commenced with a subdued note at Rs 1,378-1,415 a quintal on Monday but improved to close at Rs 1,400-1,425 a quintal on Saturday on better advices.
Medium-grade opened at Rs 1,430-1,475 per quintal and looked up further to close at Rs 1,440-1,490.