Groundnut Oil Pricier By Rs 5, Bullion Eases

A firm trend was maintained in groundnut oil at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market here yesterday on better demand coupled with restricted arrivals from producing centres. It advanced further by Rs 5 at Rs 384 per 10 kg.

In futures section, castor seeds March'98 remained untraded, while June contract opened higher and firmed up further towards closing.

In other oils, cottonseed oil washed and refined varities flared up by Rs 8 each to Rs 338 and Rs 342 per 10 kg respectively. Ricebran oil and karanji oil edged up by Rs 2 and Rs 3 to Rs 175 and Rs 161 per 10 kg respectively.

Rapeseed oil refined and soyaoil refined improved further by Rs 3 each to Rs 337 and Rs 343 per 10 kg respectively, while coconut oil white declined further by 20 at Rs 440 per 10 kg.

In futures section, June contract opened Rs 3 higher at Rs 1,239.50 a quintal and firmed up to Rs 1,243. It declined to Rs 1,239.50 before closing to Rs 1,240 a quintal.

Sugar: A weak trend continued in sugar prices on dull consumer offtake coupled with brisk arrivals yesterday. Both the grades of sugar ruled dull. Sugar S-30 declined further to Rs 1,405/1,440 a quintal as against the previous level of Rs 1,410/1,475.

Sugar M-30 eased further to Rs 1,420/1,495 as against the previous level of Rs 1,440/1,500 a quintal. Meanwhile, sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted lower at Rs 1,380/1,395 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1,415/1,455 for M-30.

Non-ferrous metals: An easy-to-steady trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday.

In scraps section, copper heavy scraps and copper utensils eased by 50 paise each to Rs 107.50 and Rs 94 a kg respectively. Brass utensils eased by 25 paise at Rs 94 a kg.

Meanwhile, brass sheetcuttings and aluminium utensils ruled overall steady at Rs 88.50 and Rs 62 a kg respectively.

In virgin metals, copper wirebars eased by 50 paise at Rs 117 a kg. Nickel cathodes improved by Rs 4 at Rs 314 a kg. Meanwhile, all other metals were nominally quoted as under : aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 70, lead ingots Rs 40, tin slabs Rs 345 and nickel cathodes Rs 310 a kg respectively.

Bullion: A weak-to-downward trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. Both the precious metals ruled dull.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 declined further by Rs 295 and Rs 285 to Rs 8,280 and Rs 8,180 a kg respectively.

In yellow metals, both standard gold and 22-carat gold weakened by Rs 35 each to Rs 3,950 and Rs 3,650 per 10 grammes respectively on dull consumer as well industrial demand.

The overseas advices also indicated weak trend. Gold biscuit prices also fell by Rs 400 at Rs 46,400 per piece of gold bar on dull movements.