A weak sentiment prevailed at the bullion market during the whole of last week. Both the precious metals ruled dull on weak overseas advices and increased off-loadings at improved levels.
Silver .999, which opened steady at Rs 7,975 per kg last Monday, declined to end at Rs 7,875 a kg on Saturday on weak overseas advices, dull out-of-state demand and easy selling pressure locally. Industrial offtake remained subdued.
Silver .916 also ruled dull and lost Rs 105 to end at Rs 7,725 a kg during the week.
Standard gold opened on a dull note at Rs 4,450 per 10 gm on Monday and weakened further to close at Rs 4,350 on Saturday on dull international advices.
Gold 22-carat ruled dull too and lost Rs 90 to close at Rs 4,025 per 10 gm during the week.
Gold biscuit (116.50 gm a piece) prices also ruled weak and declined by Rs 1,100 quoted at Rs 50,900 per piece.
Oils & oilseeds: The local oils and oilseeds mart displayed a weak tendency during the last week owing to dull offtake against limited arrivals of the imported oils.
The demand for most of the edible varieties including groundnut oil stayed at steady levels during the week under review.
Groundnut oil commenced on a steady note at Rs 365 per 10 kg on Monday but eased to end at Rs 350 on Saturday on dull overseas advices coupled with easy arrivals. Demand remained subdued.
Arrivals from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh remained brisk at about 14-16 trucks per day.
Castor oil commercial and FSG qualities declined by Rs 6 each to Rs 404 and Rs 416 per 10 kg, respectively, on dull upcountry advices coupled with moderate industrial offtake.
Cottonseed oil washed and refined qualities declined by Rs 12 and Rs 14 to Rs 228 and Rs 238 per 10 kg, respectively, on dull industrial demand and easy arrivals of stock from upcountry centres.
Imported RBD palmolein and soybean oil refined eased by Rs 14 and Rs 5 to Rs 211 and Rs 230 per 10 kg, respectively, on dull upcountry orders and improved selling pressure at the local level.
In oilseeds, castorseeds and nigerseeds declined by Rs 30 and Rs 25 to Rs 1,870 and Rs 2275 a quintal, respectively, on brisk supplies of ready stock against modest industrial offtake.
Non-ferrous metals: A mixed trend was witnessed in the local non-ferrous metals mart during the last week. Scraps ruled firm while virgins stayed steady-to-dull. The undertone of the market hinted at weakness.
In scraps, copper heavy improved by Re 1 to Rs 116 a kg, while copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings looked up by 50 paise and 75 paise each to Rs 98.50, Rs 88.50 and Rs 95.50 a kg, respectively, on reduced supplies of imported materials.
Aluminium utensils ruled steady at Rs 68.50 a kg on narrow movements during the week.
In virgins, tin slabs declined by Rs 10 to Rs 372 a kg on improved supplies of imported materials against dull industrial demand, while nickel cathodes improved by Rs 7 to Rs 587 a kg.
Copper wirebar and zinc slabs firmed up by Re 1 and 50 paise to Rs 122 and Rs 89 a kg, respectively, on better industrial demand during the week.
All the other metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted as under: copper wirebar Rs 121.50, aluminium ingots Rs 90 and lead ingots Rs 36 a kg, respectively.
Sugar: A weak trend was witnessed in indigenous sugar prices on dull demand and easy arrivals during the last week. The market undertone remained weak during the week.
Small-grade sugar commenced on a subdued note at Rs 1,505-1,547 a quintal on Monday and eased further to close at Rs 1,500-1,527 a quintal on Saturday on
dull advices coupled with subdued offtake against normal availability.
Medium-grade sugar opened subdued at Rs 1,535-1,600 per quintal and softened further to close out the week at Rs 1,518-1,600 amid dull sentiment.
