Groundnut Oil Steady, Sugar Easy, Bullion Divergent

Groundnut oil ruled steady on moderate demand, while other industrial oils ruled easy-to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market at Turbhe yesterday. In the futures section, the March 97 contract continued to see no trades. The the June 97 contract opened higher, but eased towards closing.

Groundnut oil ruled at Rs 341 per 10 kg on subdued demand, coupled with modest arrivals. Arrivals were put at around 100/110 tonnes a day.

In other oils, sesame oil and neem oil firmed up by Rs 5 each to Rs 315 and Rs 185 per 10 kg respectively on improved demand. Rice bran oil inched up by Rs 3 at Rs 168 per 10 kg on better demand, while coconut oil white and kardi oil declined by Rs 5 each to Rs 710 and Rs 360 per 10 kg respectively. Imported palmolein ruled overall steady at the previous level of Rs 282 per 10 kg on dull demand. Majority of the other oils ruled overall steady on narrow movements.

The June 97 contract opened Rs 1.50 higher at Rs 1,196 and firmed up to Rs 1,196.50, but closed at Rs 1,188 a quintal on heavy liquidation.

In oilseeds, sesame seeds bold went up by Rs 25 to Rs 1,775 a quintal on improved offtake. All the other oilseeds ruled steady on controlled movements.

Sugar: Sugar prices continued to ease at the wholesale sugar market at Turbhe yesterday. The demand remained sluggish against better inflows and undertone weak. Sugar S-30 grade eased to Rs 1,248/1,270 a quintal from the previous level of Rs 1,250/1,275 on slack demand and better arrivals. Sugar M-30 grade slipped to Rs 1,280/1,350 from Rs 1,280/1,360 a quintal on reduced offtake.

Meanwhile, sugar for check-post deliveries were quoted at Rs 1,208/1,230 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1,242/1,285 for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals: A weak-to-steady trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous market yesterday. In virgin metals, zinc and nickel firmed up, while all the scrap metals ruled steady on narrow movements. Industrial demand remained dull. The traded volumes were negligible.

Zinc slabs and nickel cathodes rose by 50 paise and Re 1 to Rs 71.50 and Rs 372 per kg respectively on better industrial offtake. Copper wirebar, aluminium ingots, lead ingots and tin slabs ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 129, Rs 72.50, Rs 45.50, and Rs 341 a kg respectively In the scraps section, all the metals were static on narrow movements.

Copper heavy scraps were quoted at Rs 117, copper utensils at Rs 105.50, brass utensils at Rs 89.50, brass sheetcuttings at Rs 91.50 and aluminium utensils Rs 58 a kg respectively.

Bullion: The local bullion market witnessed divergent trend yesterday with silver sliding and gold firming up. The market sentiment remained weak. In white metals, silver .999 and .916 declined by Rs 30 each to Rs 7,410 and Rs 7,310 a kg respectively. This was due to weak overseas advices besides reduced industrial offtake.

Delhi advices also witnessed a dull trend.

In yellow metals, standard gold and 22 carat gold went up Rs 25 each to Rs 4,825 and Rs 4,465 per 10 grams respectively on improved offtake coupled with better overseas advices.

Arrivals were said to be nominal, while the demand remained modest.