Gnut Oil Spurts, Sugar Easy, Bullion Stays Weak

Groundnut oil advanced further on restricted inflow from the producing centres coupled with improved offtake whereas other industrial oils ruled easy to steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market, here yesterday.

Imported palmolein ruled firm. In futures, castor seeds March'98 remained untraded while June contract opened low but firmed up towards close. Groundnut oil edged up by Rs 8 at Rs 378 per 10 kg on better consumer demand coupled with limited arrivals.

In other oils, linseed oil and sesame oil improved by Rs 5 each to Rs 325 and Rs 345 per 10 kg on improved demand, while copra oil white and sunflower oil expeller firmed up by Rs 10 and Rs 2 to Rs 500 and Rs 355 per 10 kg on improved offtake. Imported palmolein advanced by Rs 4 at Rs 322 per 10 kg on improved offtake.

In futures section, June contract opened Rs 4 lower at Rs 1,238 and firmed up to Rs 1,244.50 a quintal. It declined to Rs 1,238 before closing to Rs 1,243 a quintal on speculative movements. Castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra qualities declined by Rs 4 each to Rs 1,186 and Rs 1,180 a quintal, respectively on reduced industrial offtake. Other oilseeds ruled overall steady on narrow movements.

Sugar: An easy to downward trend prevailed on sluggish consumer offtake coupled with modest arrivals at Turbhe. Both grades ruled weak. S-30 eased to Rs 1,445/1,470 from the previous level of Rs 1,451/1,480 a quintal on reduced demand coupled with normal arrivals.

M-30 weakened to Rs 1,463/1,510 a quintal on dull local demand. Meanwhile, sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted lower at Rs 1,435/1,450 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1,450/1,480 for the M-30 .

Non-ferrous metals: A steady trend prevailed. The demand remained steady against normal arrivals and the undertone was cautious. In scraps, all the metals ruled overall steady: copper heavy scraps Rs 105, copper utensils Rs 93.25, brass utensils Rs 82.75, brass sheetcuttings Rs 87.25 and aluminium utensils Rs 62 a kg respectively on narrow movements.

Virgin metals ruled quiet and were quoted at copper wirebar Rs 114.50, aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 70, lead ingots Rs 40, tin slabs Rs 345 and nickel cathodes Rs 310 a kg., respectively on narrow movements.

Bullion: The weak to downward trend continued with both the precious metals dull on weak overseas advices and easy arrivals. Silver .999 and .916 declined by Rs 120 and Rs 85 to Rs 8,765 and Rs 8,645 a kg respectively. Delhi advices indicated a modest trend. In yellow metals, both- standard gold and 22-carat gold eased further by Rs 10 each to Rs 4,020 and Rs 3,720 per 10 grammes respectively on poor consumer interests. Gold biscuits also dipped by Rs 100 at Rs 47,200 per piece of gold bar on subdued offtake.