Groundnut Oil Steady, Sugar Inches Up, Bullion Hardens

The upward trend in groundnut oil was arrested on sluggish demand at higher level coupled with better arrivals, whereas other industrial oils ruled firm-to-upward at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai, yesterday. Imported palmolein ruled firm.

In the futures section, castor seeds March 98 remained untraded while June contract opened lower but firmed up towards closing.

Groundnut oil held overall steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 396 per 10 kg. In other oils, kardi oil and copra oil white advanced further by Rs 10 each to Rs 475 and Rs 485 per 10 kg, respectively.

Cottonseed oil washed and refined qualities firmed up further by Rs three and Rs two to Rs 358 and Rs 360 per 10 kg, respectively. Sesame oil and rapeseed oil refined edged up further by Rs 20 and Rs three to Rs 390 and Rs 358 per 10 kg, respectively. Imported palmolein looked up further by Rs two at Rs 356 per 10 kg. In the futures section, June contract closed at Rs 1,282.50 a quintal on speculative movements.

Sugar: A subdued-to-steady trend was noticed in sugar prices at the local sugar market yesterday. Both the grades of sugar ruled subdued.

Sugar S-30 ruled slightly firm at Rs 1,420/1,463, while Sugar M-30 ruled subdued at Rs 1,455/1,510.

Meanwhile, sugar for the check-post deliveries were quoted lower at Rs 1,400/1,420 a quintal for S-30, while Rs 1,431/1,460 a quintal for M-30.

Non-ferrous metals: Copper witnessed an upward trend while all the other metals ruled steady in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday.

In virgin metals, copper wirebar looked up by 50 paise at Rs 117 a kg.

Meanwhile, all the other metals were nominally quoted as under : aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 70, lead ingots Rs 40.50, tin slabs Rs 338 and nickel cathodes Rs 305 a kg, respectively.

In the scraps section, copper heavy scraps looked up by 50 paise at Rs 106.50 a kg. Meanwhile, all the other metals were nominally quoted as under : copper utensils Rs 93.25, brass utensils Rs 83.75, brass sheetcuttings Rs 88 and aluminium utensils Rs 62 a kg, respectively.

Bullion: A firm-to-upward trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. Both the precious metals ruled upward.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 improved by Rs 90 and Rs 70 to Rs 8,590 and Rs 8,470 a kg, respectively.

The industrial demand remained modest.

In yellow metals, both standard gold and 22-carat gold improved further by Rs 40 each to Rs 4,050 and Rs 3,750 per 10 grammes, respectively. The overseas advices also indicated firm trend.

Gold biscuit prices firmed up further by Rs 500 at Rs 47,600 per piece of gold bar.