A mixed trend was seen on the bullion market during last week. Gold prices firmed up on good seasonal buying coupled with thin supplies. On the other hand, silver reacted on weak overseas advices and poor industrial offtake.
The bullion market remained closed on April 9 on account of Mahavir Jayanthi and on April 10 due to Good Friday.
Standard gold opened firm at Rs 4,250 on good seasonal demand coupled with higher London advices. Later, due to fall in the international prices and increased supply, prices of the yellow metal fell to Rs 4,230, before winding up at Rs 4,250, showing a smart gain of Rs 90 over the last week's close of Rs 4,160.
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22-carat gold closed at Rs 3,930, displaying a gain of Rs 80 over the last week's mark of Rs 3,850. Ten tola gold bar of .999 purity started on a firm note at Rs 49,900 and later declined to end at Rs 49,800, still showing a smart rise of Rs 1,100 over the previous week's mark of Rs 48,700.
Ready silver of .999 fineness, after a firm start at Rs 8,975, reacted on increased arrivals and closed at Rs 8,850, displaying a moderate fall of Rs 20 over the last week's close of Rs 8,870. Raw silver of .916 fineness, however, improved by Rs 5 at Rs 8,745 from Rs 8,740, while tenderable silver fell by Rs 20 to close at Rs 8,855 as against Rs 8,875 last Saturday.
Sugar: Sugar and khandsari notched smart gains at the New Delhi market during the week ended April 11. Although the government has not yet formally announced the imposition of import duty on sugar, mill owners have already hiked the rates of mill delivery sugar to Rs 1380/1425 per quintal. On the government's proposed move to levy import tax on sugar resulted in higher prices of sugar during the week.
Fearing the levy of special tax on imported sugar, the importers were now having a second thought before finalising any further deals as imports will not be viable now.
As a result domestic sugar prices witnessed a big jump during the week under review.
Bank holidays and other festival holidays also affected the arrival of sugar from adjoining states which aided the sentiment.
Gur and khandsari also did not lag behind and moved up in tune with the sugar.
Sugar M-30 gained Rs 40 to Rs 45 at Rs 1480/1525 and S-30 was up by Rs 35 at lower and Rs 35 at higher level at Rs 1460/1480 per quintal as compared with last week's closing price range. In Mumbai, M-30 started the week around Rs 1491 to close much higher around Rs 1540 per quintal. Gur did not lag behind and gained Rs 25 at higher level at Rs 1025/1100 per quintal compared to previous week's rates.
Oils & Oilseeds: Prices shot up sharply on the oilseeds market during the week under review on heavy bouts of buying coupled with poor supply.
The market remained closed on April 9 on account of `Mahavir Jayanthi'. In the edible section, groundnut oil and bold rallied on firm Rajkot advices and poor supply. Palm oil ended higher on restricted arrivals.
In the non-edible section, linseed oil, linseed bold, castor oil commercial and castorseed Madras also fared well on heavy industrial buying. In the futures market, cottonseed June contract rose smartly on good speculative buying by stockists.
In the edible section, groundnut oil opened Rs 10 higher at Rs 417, and shot up steeply to settle at Rs 437, a sharp rally of Rs 30 over the last week's close of Rs 407. Bold rose by Rs 10 and ended at Rs 1980 from Rs 1970.
Palm oil resumed better at Rs 361 and closed at Rs 368, a gain of Rs 11 over the last week's close of Rs 368. Iin the non-edible section, linseed oil resumed better at Rs 375, and on increased demand from paint industries, it rallied to close at Rs 395, showing a sharp rise of Rs 25 over the last week's close of Rs 370.
Linseed bold jumped up by Rs 100 to close at Rs 1400. Castor oil commercial, after a steady start at Rs 280, rose smartly on good offtake by soap manufacturers, and ended at Rs 187, a gain of Rs 7 from the previous week's level of Rs 280.
Castorseed Madras attracted heavy demand from exporters, and ended at Rs 1282, a gain of Rs 34 from the last close of Rs 1248.
In the futures section, castorseed June contract opened firm at Rs 1306.50, and rose to Rs 1309 on increased shippers' demand.
Later, on profit-selling at higher level, it reacted to end at Rs 1303 which was still Rs 11 above the last week's close of Rs 1292.