G'Nut Oil Steady, Bullion Divergent, Metals Firm

An easy-to-steady trend was seen in groundnut oil, as most edible oils ruled easy-to-subdued at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai yesterday. Imported palmolein ruled firm.

In other oils, linseed oil and mowra oil declined by Rs 10 and Rs 15 to Rs 435 and Rs 330 per 10 kg. Sesame and sunflower oil expeller eased Rs 5 each to Rs 430 and Rs 415 per 10 kg. Castor oil commercial and BSS qualities firmed up further by Rs 3 each to Rs 406 and Rs 418 per 10 kg.

Rapeseed oil refined eased by Rs 2 at Rs 390. Imported palmolein eased further by Rs 2 at Rs 358 per 10 kg on subdued offtake against easy availability. Meanwhile, most other oils ruled overall steady.

In futures, September `98 contract opened Rs 5 higher at Rs 1,688 before closing at Rs 1,702 a quintal.

In oilseeds, castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra qualities looked up by Rs 15 each to Rs 1,853 and Rs 1,847 a quintal respectively. All oil seeds ruled steady.

Sugar: A steady trend was witnessed in sugar prices. The market undertone was weak. Sugar S-30 grade ruled marginally firm at Rs 1,480/1,495 a quintal against the previous level of Rs 1,475/1,495.

Sugar M-30 ruled overall steady and was nominally quoted at Rs 1,495/1,555 a quintal on steady offtake. Sugar for the check-post deliveries were quoted lower at Rs 1,465/1,475 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1,485/1,510 a quintal for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals: Local non-ferrous metals saw a firm trend. In virgin metals, copper wirebar and zinc slabs firmed up by 50 paise each to Rs 128.50 and Rs 82.50 a kg. Nickel cathodes was down Re 1 at Rs 270 a kg. Lead ingots firmed up by 25 paise at Rs 45.50 a kg.

Other metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted as under: aluminium ingots Rs 85.50 and tin slabs Rs 382 a kg.

In the scraps section, copper heavy scraps moved up by Re 1 at Rs 112 a kg. Copper and brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings firmed up by 25 paise each to Rs 97.50, Rs 85.50 and Rs 89 a kg. Aluminium utensils ruled steady and were quoted at Rs 63.00 a kg.

Bullion: The local bullion market saw a divergent trend. Silver ruled firm, while gold turned weak. The undertone remained weak.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 improved by Rs 20 and Rs 60 to Rs 8,315 and Rs 8,105 a kg.

In yellow metals, standard and 22 carat gold eased further by Rs 5 each to Rs 4,205 and Rs 3,890 per 10 grams on reduced demand. Gold biscuit prices ruled overall steady and were quoted at Rs 49,300 per piece of gold bar.