Wheat prices decline as FMC bans future trading

NEWS DIGEST

The downslide in wheat prices continued unabated today on persistent offerings by stockists against slowdown in buying by rolling flour mills after Forward Markets Commission banned futures trading and lost further ground.

Atta, maida and sooji also ruled weak in line with wheat. Marketmen said banning of futures trading in wheat and rice on the NCDEX and other exchanges by the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) mainly led to a persistent fall in the commodity prices.

"It seems the downward march in wheat prices likely to gather momentum in coming days", said a wholesale grain merchant.

Gur firms up on restricted supply, better offtake

Gur prices firmed up on the wholesale gur (jaggery) market here today following scarcity of stocks amid better offtake by local parties and closed in positive zone. Marketmen said paucity of ready stocks triggered by increased buying by stockist and local parties mainly pushed up gur prices.

On the other hand, gur prices in Muzzafar Nagar and Murad Nagar gur mandies remained flat due to rain. In Delhi, gur pedi hardened from Rs.1275-1300 to close at Rs.1300-1350 a quintal on restricted supply against increased offtake.

Shakkar prices also remained in keen demand due to better demand from local parties and settled higher at Rs 1450-1500 instead of Rs.1350-1400 a quintal. Elsewhere, rest other gur varieties remained quiet in thin trade.

Cardamom prices down

Cardamom prices fell an average Rs 5 a kg at Wednesday's weekly auctions held by Cardamom Processing and Marketing Co in Kumily due to rise in supply, dealers said.

Arrivals this week rose to 65 tonne compared with 52 tn a week ago, and this had weakened sentiments, a dealer said. Summer rains in cardamom growing areas the past few days also heightened expectations of rise in supply, he said.

More than rains, cloudy conditions had dampened sentiment on prices firming up, he said. Though more than 80 per cent of the 2006-07 (Mar-Apr) cardamom crop has already been harvested, prevailing climate with good moisture levels may aid the remaining crop, dealers said.

Demand from exporters staying flat at 5 tn also kept sentiment down, dealers said. Top quality 8mm bold grades fetched a high price of Rs 475 a kg compared with Rs 470 a week ago.

Tokyo rubber futures slip

Tokyo rubber futures slipped to a one-week low on Thursday as technical selling pounded the market, still reeling from the previous day's battering.

The benchmark rubber contract for August delivery closed the morning session at 272.5 yen ($2.30) per kg, down 4.6 yen or about 1.7 percent from Wednesday's close of 277.1 yen, when it finished down by the 10-yen daily limit.

Prices initially climbed as high as 281.8 yen, only to reverse and sink to a low of 272.3 yen. "I don't think rubber's fundamentals quite merit this kind of decline," a Tokyo broker said. But he said many investors had jumped on the bandwagon when technical selling emerged.

Malaysian palm oil futures remain unchanged

Malaysian crude palm oil futures were little changed in thin trade on Thursday, with the market awaiting news on the export situation in the coming days. ealers said shipments were likely to pick up after a seasonal slowdown.

The benchmark third-month May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives exchange was down 3 ringgit at 1,957 ringgit ($559) a tonne at the end of the morning session.

"The market is just holding there, no news, no new direction," said one dealer. "In the coming days the market movement will depend on exports, soyoil and crude oil prices." Other contracts were down between 1 and 4 ringgit.

Overall volume was down sharply at 1,823 lots of 25 tonnes each compared with around 5,000 lots by midsession on a normal day.

The state-run Malaysian Palm Oil Board will release February exports, output and stocks data on March 12. On the same day, cargo surveyors will unveil export numbers for March 1 to 10.

Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended firm on Wednesday, rebounding from Tuesday's sharp decline that mirrored moves in markets around the world on fears that China would enforce further tightening measures to cool its economy.