Gnut Oil, Palmolein Firm Up, Bullion Divergent

A modest trend was witnessed during the moorat trading in groundnut oil at the wholesale oil and oilseeds market here yesterday.

Demand remained modest. Other industrial oils ruled easy-to-steady while imported palmolein ruled slightly firm on better offtake.

In futures section, castorseeds December contract opened higher but eased towards closing, while March'98 contract remained untraded.

Groundnut oil looked up by Rs 1.25 at Rs 344.25 per 10 kg. Arrivals were put at around 95 tonnes a day.

Cottonseed oil-washed and refined qualities declined further by Rs 2 each to Rs 283.25 and Rs 285.25 per 10 kg on reduced industrial demand.

Ricebran and soya oil refined firmed up by Rs 3 and Rs 2 to Rs 168.25 and Rs 276.25 per 10 kg respectively on better demand. Imported palmolein rose Re 1 at Rs 266.25 per 10 kg.

In futures section, December contract opened Rs 2 up at Rs 1163.50 a quintal and ruled steady. It declined to close at Rs 1161.50 a quintal on speculative movements.

Castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra qualities ruled steady at Rs 1195.73 and Rs 1189.73 per quintal respectively on modest industrial offtake and limited arrivals.

Non-ferrous metals: A mixed trend was witnessed in the local non-ferrous market yesterday.

In virgin section, nickel cathodes and tin slabs firmed up on better industrial offtake and closed at Rs 311.51 and Rs 307.51 a kg respectively.

Copper wirebar softened on lack of demand to close at Rs127.51 a kg. All the other metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted. Aluminium ingots were quoted at Rs 82.51, zinc slabsat Rs 80.11, and lead ingots Rs 41.11 per kg respectivel on narrow movements .

In scraps section, copper heavy scraps ruled easy and were quoted at Rs 114.51 a kg on slack industrial demand.

The other metals were nominally quoted as: copper utensils Rs 107.11, brass utensils Rs 93.11, brass sheetcuttings Rs 99.21 and aluminium utensils Rs 62.51 a kg respectively.

Bullion: A divergent trend was witnessedduring moorat trading in the local bullion market. Both the precious metals ruled in opposite directions.

In white metals, silver.999 and .916varieties improved Rs 50 each to Rs 6680 and Rs 6580 a kg respectively on slightly firm overseas advices and modest consumer buying.

Arrivals remained normal. Delhi advices indicated a moderate trend.

In yellow metals, both standard gold and 22 carat gold declined further by Rs 40 each to Rs 4210 and Rs 3890 per 10 grams respectively on dull overseas advices.

Gold biscuit prices also lost Rs 400 at Rs 49,400 per piece of gold bar of 10 tolas.