G'Nut Oil Hardens, Sugar Mixed, Bullion Declines

Groundnut oil advanced further, while most other edible oils ruled easy-to-steady at the local wholesale oils and oilseeds market yesterday. Imported palmolein ruled easy.

In the futures market, the December '98 contract opened higher but declined towards closing. Groundnut oil looked up further by Rs 5 at Rs 615 per 10 kg. In other oils, linseed oil and neem oil improved further by Rs 5 each to Rs 480 and Rs 285 per 10 kg, respectively.

Cottonseed oil washed and karanji oil advanced by Rs 3 and Rs 2 to Rs 438 and Rs 240 per 10 kg, respectively. Soya oil refined and sunflower oil expeller eased by Rs 2 and Rs 5 to Rs 400 and Rs 425 per 10 kg on dull offtake against easy supplies. Imported palmolein firmed up by Re 1 at Rs 385 per 10 kg.

In the futures section, the December contract declined to close at Rs 1,644 a quintal.

In oilseeds, castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra gained Rs 10 each to Rs 1,992 and Rs 1,986 per quintal, respectively.

Sugar: A mixed trend was noticed in sugar prices yesterday.

Sugar S-30 ruled subdued at Rs 1,460-1,485 against its previous level of Rs 1,458-1,495 a quintal. Sugar M-30 looked up further at Rs 1,490-1,545 a quintal. Meanwhile, sugar for the check-post deliveries were quoted higher at Rs 1,435-1,450 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1,460-1,490 a quintal for M-30.

Non-ferrous metals: A weak trend continued in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. Both the sections of metals ruled dull to steady.

In the scraps section, copper heavy scraps declined further by Re 1 at Rs 98, while copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheet cuttings eased by 50 paise each to Rs 90.25, Rs 83.25 and Rs 85.00 a kg, respectively.

Meanwhile, aluminium utensils ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 63.50 a kg on narrow movements.

In virgin metals, copper wirebar eased further by 50 paise at Rs 113.50 a kg on brisk supplies coupled with dull industrial enquires. Meanwhile, all the other metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted as under : aluminium ingots Rs 86, zinc slabs Rs 77.50, lead ingots Rs 45.50, tin slabs Rs 384 and nickel cathodes Rs 251 a kg, respectively.

Bullion: An easy-to-downward trend was noticed in both the precious metals in the local bullion market yesterday. Both the precious metals ruled dull. The market sentiment was subdued.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 declined by Rs 150 and Rs 185 to Rs 7,650 and Rs 7,525 a kg, respectively, on weak overseas advices coupled with reeduced industrial demand in the local market. Delhi advices indicated discouraging trend.

In yellow metals, standard gold and 22-carat gold eased by Rs 10 each to Rs 4,380 and Rs 4,050 per 10 grams, respectively, on dull overseas advices couppled with moderate seasonal offtake. Gold biscuits prices also softened by Rs 200 at Rs 51,600 per piece.