Groundnut Oil Holds Fort, Bullion, Sugar Rule Weak

Groundnut oil held steady yesterday on narrow movements at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market here yesterday. Imported palmolein ruled easy. It maintained its position at Rs 445 per 10 kg on narrow movements. Arrivals were put at around 90 tonne a day.

Sesame oil and copra oil white improved by Rs 5 each to Rs 420 and Rs 450 per 10 kg respectively. Castor oil commercial and BSS qualities advanced further by Rs 4 each to Rs 305 and Rs 317 per 10 kg respectively on better industrial demand. Imported palmolein eased by Re 1 at Rs 378 per 10 kg on subdued industrial demand and modest arrivals.

Castorseeds September contract opened Rs 1.50 lower at Rs 1394 a quintal and firmed up to Rs 1405.50. It declined to Rs 1394 before closing at Rs 1402 a quintal on speculative movements.

Castorseeds Maharashtra and Madras looked up further by Rs 19 each to Rs 1368 and Rs 1362 a quintal respectively on hectic buying activities. Groundnuts-Karad bold and Saurashtra quality firmed up by Rs 20 each to Rs 1980 and Rs 2000 a quintal respectively on improved industrial interest. Niger seeds Madras quality looked up by Rs 15 at Rs 1750 a quintal.

Sugar: An easy-to-downward trend was witnessed on sluggish offtake at the local sugar market yesterday. The undertone was weak. S-30 declined to Rs 1450/1480 a quintal from the previous level of Rs 1465/1490. The offtake remained dull coupled with better availability of stock. M-30 eased to Rs 1470/1515 as against the previous level of Rs 1500/1520 a quintal. Arrivals also remained modest.

Meanwhile, sugar for the check-post deliveries were quoted lower at Rs 1430/1445 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1445/1456 a quintal for the M-30.

Non-ferrous metals: A weak trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. Copper heavy scraps and copper utensils declined further by 50 paise each to Rs 117.50 and Rs 100.50 a kg respectively while brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings eased further by 25 paise each to Rs 89.25 and Rs 93.00 a kg respectively on reduced industrial interest at higher level.

Tin slabs and nickel cathodes declined by Rs 5 and Rs 3 to Rs 365 and Rs 301.00 a kg respectively.Copper wirebar, zinc slabs and lead ingots eased by 50 paise each to Rs 132.50, Rs 80.50 and Rs 43 a kg respectively on sluggish industrial demand.

Bullion: An easy trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. Both the precious metals ruled weak. Silver .999 and .916 eased by Rs 45 and Rs 35 to Rs 7,575 and Rs 7,470 a kg respectively. Both- standard gold and 22 carat gold softened by Rs 15 each to Rs 4,185 and Rs 3,870 per 10 grammes respectively on dull overseas advices. Gold biscuit prices also eased by Rs 200 at Rs 49,100 per piece of gold bar on dull movements.