Gnut Oil, Bullion Dip, Sugar Steady

Castorseed September delivery prices on Friday fell to Rs 1,124/1,125 per quintal from Rs 1,131/1,132 on the back of fresh speculative selling, dealers said.

Reports of widespread rain in producing centres prompted fresh bull liquidation as timely rain brightened prospects for the new crop. "Absence of fresh overseas enquiries also subdued the market sentiments," one operator said.

Groundnut eased by 2/3 rupees at Rs 352/353 per 10 kg amid sluggish physical demand but inflows were low at 40/50 tonnes in the Bombay market due to heavy rain in producing areas. In Rajkot, spot groundnut oil was steady at Rs 550/555 per 15 kg.

Sugar: Sugar prices yesterday held steady in a narrow trading range, dealers said.

Consumer and retail demand remained slow but limited arrivals reduced market activity.

In the ready delivery sugar S-30 was quiet at Rs 1,440/1,470 per quintal and M-30 at Rs 1,465/1,510 per quintal. Sugar mill delivery also remained steady at Rs 1,380/1,390 per quintal for the S-30 variety and at Rs 1,395/1,410 for the M-30 variety.

"Arrivals of sugar from mills to the Mumbai market remained low as local millers have already sold out their allotted quantity of free sale quota for the current month," one broker said.

Traders were expecting sugar prices to remain in a narrow price band until the end of the month and expect prices to bounce back in the first week of July. Free sale quota for July is lower at 750,000 tonnes against 800,000 tonnes allotted this month.

Non-ferrous metals: Tin and nickel prices on Friday suffered a fresh setback on weak trends in world markets, dealers said.. Other base metals were steady in a limited activity.

Tin prices moved down by Rs 200 at Rs 30,200 per quintal while nickel fell by Rs 300 at Rs 35,100. Copper was steady at Rs 13,800 per quintal on fresh support after losing Rs 50 on Thursday.

Aluminium was quiet at Rs 7,700 per quintal, zinc at Rs 8,100 and lead at Rs 4,100 per quintal amid nominal trading.

Overall trading volume remained at a low ebb during the day as major players were awaiting an announcement on selling prices by state-owned agencies for July.

Bullion: Both the previous metals declined on the bullion market here yesterday due to poor buying interest from consumers and industrial units. Weak overseas advices also aided the downtrend.

Gold prices suffered a fresh fall on account of lower prices of gold biscuits which declined owing to increased supplies from abroad. Standard gold declined by Rs 10 and closed at Rs 4585 from Rs 4595, while 22-carat gold was nominally quoted lower at Rs 4240 against Rs 4250 yesterday. Ten-tola gold bar of .999 purity declined by Rs 100 to close at Rs 53,600 from Rs 53,700.

Silver ready of .999 fineness softened by Rs 5 and closed at Rs 6725 against the last close of Rs 6730. Raw silver also fell by a similar margin to finish at Rs 6625 from Rs 6630. Tenderable silver at Rs 6730 showed a fall of Rs 5 from the previous close of Rs 6735.