Groundnut oil firmed up further due to better demand coupled with restricted arrivals from upcountry centres.
Other industrial oils ruled easy to steady yesterday. Imported palmolein ruled steady on subdued arrivals. In the futures section, March 97 contract opened steady but declined towards closing. June 97 contract opened lower but improved towards the closing.
Groundnut oil improved by Rs 3 at Rs 347 per 10 kg on better demand coupled and reduced arrivals. Arrivals were put at 90/100 tonnes a day.
Linseed oil and sesame oil improved by Rs 5 each to Rs 300 and Rs 310 per 10 kg respectively. Coconut oil white slipped by Rs 15 at Rs 700 per 10 kg on improved supplies coupled with dull industrial demand. Imported palmolein ruled steady at Rs 281 per 10 kg on subdued demand. Other oils too ruled steady on due to narrow movements.
In futures contract, March 97 contract opened steady at Rs 1,122 a quintal but declined to close at Rs 1,110. The June contract opened Re 1 lower at Rs 1,196 but firmed up to Rs 1,220. It fell to Rs 1,196 before closing at Rs 1,208. In oilseeds, castorseeds Chennai and Maharashtra qualities looked up by Rs 5 each to Rs 1,099 and Rs 1,093 per quintal respectively on dull demand.
Sugar: Sugar prices continued to ease at the wholesale sugar market. Sugar of both the grades declined on weak demand. Demand remained sluggish against better inflows.
Sugar S-30 grade fell to Rs 1,250/1,288 a quintal from the previous Rs 1,255/1,294 due to slack demand and better arrivals. Sugar M-30 dipped to Rs 1,288/1,370 from Rs 1,280/1,388 a quintal on reduced offtake. Sugar for the check-post deliveries was quoted at Rs 1,230/1,250 for S-30 and Rs 1,270/1,330 for M-30.
Non-ferrous metals: An easy to steady trend was noticed on the local non-ferrous market. Both, scrap and virgin metal ruled subdued to easy on narrow movements. Industrial demand remained dull. The trade volume continued to remained small.
In the scraps section, copper heavy scraps and copper utensils eased by 50 paise each to Rs 117.50 and Rs 105.50 a kg respectively on easy industrial offtake. All other metals ruled steady . Brass utensils were quoted at Rs 89.50, brass sheet cuttings at Rs 91.50 and aluminium utensils at Rs 58 a kg. In the virgin section, tin slabs and zinc slabs improved by Re1 at Rs 341 and Rs 70.50 a kg respectively due to better industrial offtake. Copper wirebars eased by 50 paise at Rs 129.50.
Bullion: An easy to steady trend was noticed on the local bullion market. Silver slid lower while gold ruled steady. The market sentiment remained weak.
Silver .999 and .916 declined by Rs 60 each to Rs 7,385 and Rs 7,285 a kg respectively on weak overseas advices and reduced industrial offtake as against moderate arrivals. Standard gold and 22 carat were quoted at Rs 4,780 and Rs 4,420 per 10 grams respectively on subdued consumer demand coupled with weak overseas advices and modest arrivals from upcountry centres. The prices of gold biscuits also ruled steady. It was quoted at Rs 55,900 per piece of 10 tolas on subdued consumer demand.
