The firm trend continued in groundnut oil yesterday on paucity of ready stock. Demand, however, was low. Most edible oils ruled easy-to-subdued. Imported palmolein ruled firm. In the futures market, September `98 contract remained untraded, while December `98 opened higher and advanced further towards closing.
Groundnut oil firmed up by Rs 5 at Rs 550 per 10 kg on tight supply from producing centres. Arrivals were placed at around 70 tonnes a day.
Castor oil commercial and BSS qualities advanced by Rs 7 each to Rs 437 and Rs 449 per 10 kg respectively. Linseed and sunflower oil expeller improved by Rs 5 each to Rs 435 and Rs 415 per 10 kg respectively. Soya oil refined firmed up by Rs 2 to Rs 386 per 10 kg. Imported palmolein firmed up by Rs 5 at Rs 363 per 10 kg.
In futures, December contract opened Rs 33 higher at Rs 1,770 and improved to Rs 1,807 a quintal. It declined to Rs 1770 before closing to Rs 1796 a quintal on speculative movements. Castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra qualities improved by Rs 34 each to Rs 2002 and Rs 1996 a quintal respectively.
Sugar: A weak-to-subdued trend was witnessed in sugar. Both grades ruled subdued. S-30 eased to Rs 1455/1495 a quintal against its previous level of Rs 1470/1495. Consumer offtake remained dull. M-30 weakened to Rs 1480/1555 a quintal against its Friday close of Rs 1485/1545.
Sugar for the check-post deliveries were quoted lower at Rs 1445/1455 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1467/1480 a quintal for M-30.
Non-ferrous metals: A weak-to-steady trend was noticed in non-ferrous metals. Virgin metals ruled easy-to-steady, while scraps stayed weak.
Copper heavy scraps, copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings declined by Re 1 each to Rs 107.50, Rs 93.50, Rs 82 and Rs 86 a kg respectively on sluggish industrial demand . Aluminium utensils was nominally quoted at Rs 63.00 a kg.
In virgin metals, copper wirebar weakened by Rs 2 at Rs 121.50 a kg on improved inflow of imported materials. A market rumour that a major copper manufacturing company is considering to reduce copper prices aided the weak sentiment. The other metals were quoted as under: aluminium ingots Rs 85.50, zinc slabs Rs 79.00, lead ingots Rs 45.00, tin slabs Rs 382 and nickel cathodes Rs 255 a kg respectively.
Bullion: A quiet trend was seen in bullion. Both silver .999 and .916 ruled steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 7900 and Rs 7790 a kg respectively. Demand remained moderate against subdued supply.
In yellow metals, standard gold and 22 carat gold ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 4210 and Rs 3895 per 10 grams respectively. Gold biscuit prices eased by Rs 100 at Rs 49, 400 per piece of gold bar.
