Groundnut Oil Moves Up, Precious Metals Mixed

The Mumbai bullion market saw a divergent trend last week. Silver ruled weak while gold showed an upward trend. Silver.999, which commenced with a dull note at Rs 7,540 a kg on Monday eased further to Rs 7,525 a kg on Saturday, on weak overseas advices which encouraged selling pressure. The industrial demand also remained dull against brisk arrivals. '

The domestic bullion trade is totally depending on the London market," a trader said. Similarly, silver .916 also weakened in sympathy and lost Rs 10 per kg during the week. The undercurrents indicated a weak trend.

Meanwhile, standard gold commenced on a better note at Rs 4,225 per 10 grams on Monday and improved further to Rs 4,255 per 10 grams, registering a gain of Rs 30 per 10 grams during the week.

The major reason for the firmness in yellow metals prices was the firm overseas advices coupled with modest demand.

Similarly, 22 carat gold improved in sympathy and firmed up by Rs 25 per 10 grams. Gold biscuits (116.50 gms) prices gained Rs 100 per piece on improved consumer demand backed by thin supplies and firm overseas advices.

Oils & oilseeds: A firm to upward trend was witnessed in the local oil and oilseeds market during the week.

With the end of slack season, the demand for most of the edible oils including groundnut oil was renewed. Groundnut oil commenced on a slightly dull note at Rs 563 per 10 kg on Monday and improved consistently to Rs 595 per 10 kg on Thursday. It ruled overall steady till the week-end remaining at the same level on account of resistance at higher level.

The demand has remained better on account of the end of slack season.

Heavy rains in Gujarat and in Saurashtra, the main groundnut producing centres, have restricted the outflow of oils from those centres to other market centres which also turned the market sentiment bullish.

Castor oil prices faced market resistance at much improved level and suffered a setback of Rs 42 per 10 kg during the week. Castorseeds prices declined by Rs 202 a quintal in absence of buyers against easy supply position.

Cottonseed oil washed and refined gained Rs 7 and Rs 10 to Rs 425 and Rs 430 per 10 kg respectively on sluggish industrial offtake. Kardi oil, soya oil refined and sesame oil improved by Rs 20, Rs 10 to Rs 650, Rs 388 and Rs 460 respectively on acute shortage of ready stock against improved industrial offtake. Linseed oil and neem oil prices firmed up by Rs 5 each to Rs 455 and Rs 260 per 10 kg during the week on better offtake against subdued supplies.

Non-ferrous metals: An easy to dull trend was noticed in non-ferrous metals last week. Scrap metals remained more active than virgin ones. The undertone remained week. Copper heavy declined by Rs 1.50 at Rs 104.50 a kg on improved supplies against dull demand, while copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings eased by 50 paise each to Rs 93.50, Rs 86 and Rs 88, respectively.