Maize to stay weak

COMMODITY SPIKES

Last week saw a volatile trend in maize futures market. The market, which opened the week on the strong note, went as high as Rs 736 a quintal and then dipped to as low as Rs 716 a quintal.

While expectations of a good kharif crop made the market bearish, continuous cyclical rains in major growing states, on the other hand, infused the upward rally. Market sources said that rains could be detrimental to the crop's quality and could also delay the arrival.

Though arrivals in small quantities have already started in some mandis, momentum is expected to pick up by the first fortnight of November. According to commodity analysts, the commodity futures this week is expected to behave bearish.

They added that market could oscillate between Rs 700 and Rs 720 a quintal. On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, the near-month contract of maize closed at Rs 717 on Saturday, down 1.78 per cent against the previous week's close of Rs 730 a quintal.