Groundnut oil suffered a setback at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market yesterday on receded consumer demand coupled with brisk arrivals from producing centres. In futures, castor seeds December 97 contract remained untraded, while March 98 opened lower but firmed up towards closing.
Groundnut oil declined by Rs 3 at Rs 377 per 10 kg. Arrivals remained brisk from the producing centres at around 90 tonnes a day. Linseed and cottonseed oil washed improved by Rs 5 each to Rs 330 and Rs 315 per 10 kg respectively. Sesame oil and cottonseed oil washed firmed up by Rs 10 and Rs 4 to Rs 350 and Rs 322 per 10 kg respectively. Soya oil refined and sunflower oil expeller declined by Rs 5 and Rs 3 to Rs 320 and Rs 345 per 10 kg respectively. Imported palmolein firmed up by Rs 2 at Rs 304 per 10 kg on shortage of ready stock.
In futures section, castor seed March 98 contract opened Rs 4 lower at Rs 1163 and firmed up to Rs 1164.50 a quintal. It declined to Rs 1162.50 before closing to Rs 1164 a quintal on speculative dealings. Castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra dipped further by Rs 15 each to Rs 1219 and Rs 1213 a quintal respectively on reduced industrial demand.
Sugar: A mixed trend was witnessed in sugar prices on dull offtake and subdued arrivals. Small grade ruled easy while medium grade ruled subdued.
Sugar S-30 eased to Rs 1445/1486 from the previous level of Rs 1460/1486 a quintal on sluggish consumer demand. M-30 ruled subdued at Rs 1475/1521 against the previous level of Rs 1465/1526 a quintal. Sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted low at Rs 1440/1455 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1470/1590 for the M-30 grade.
Non-ferrous metals: A mixed trend was witnessed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. Scraps ruled firm while virgin metals ruled steady. Demand remained modest.
In scraps, copper heavy improved by 50 paise, while copper utensils, brass utensils and sheetcuttings firmed up by 25 paise at Rs 106.50, Rs 95, Rs 83 and Rs 88.75 a kg. Aluminium utensils ruled steady at Rs 62.50 a kg.
In virgin metals, zinc slabs eased by 50 paise at Rs 73 a kg. Other metals were nominally quoted as under : copper wirebar Rs 117, aluminium ingots Rs 82, lead ingots Rs 39.50, tin slabs Rs 327 and nickel cathodes Rs 325 a kg respectively.
Bullion: An easy-to-steady trend was noticed in the bullion market yesterday. Silver weakened while gold ruled overall steady. The undertone of the market remained weak.
Silver .999 and .916 declined by Rs 30 each to Rs 8,390 and Rs 8,290 a kg on weak overseas advises coupled with reduced industrial demand. Arrivals remained modest. Delhi advises also indicated a weak trend.
Both standard gold and 22 carat gold ruled steady and were quoted as Rs 4,040 and Rs 3,740 per 10 grams on steady overseas advises and subdued local demand. Gold biscuit prices also held steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 47, 300 per piece of gold bar on narrow movements.
