Groundnut Oil Up, Sugar Weak, Bullion Stable

Groundnut oil ruled slightly firm on better demand coupled with subdued arrivals from producing centres, whereas other industrial oils ruled easy- to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai yesterday. Groundnut oil firmed up by Re 1 at Rs 338 per 10 kg on better industrial and consumer demand. Arrivals remained modest at around 95 tonnes a day.

Linseed oil improved by Rs 3 to Rs 338 per 10 kg on improved industrial demand coupled with limited arrivals. Karanji oil eased by Re 1 to Rs 155 per 10 kg. Sunflower oil expeller declined by Rs 7 at Rs 298 per 10 kg . Soya oil refined firmed up by Re 1 at Rs 271 per 10 kg while karanji oil eased by Re 1 to Rs 155 per 10 kg respectively. Imported palmolein was Re 1 lower at Rs 275 per 10 kg.

In the futures section, castor seed March98 contract opened 50 paise up at Rs 1169 and firmed up to Rs 1174 a quintal. It declined to Rs 1169 before closing at Rs 1174 on speculative dealings.

Sugar: A downtrend continued in sugar on improved arrivals at the wholesale sugar market at Turbhe, Navi Mumbai yesterday. Both the grades fared weak.

S-30 declined further to Rs 1490/1511 from the previous level of Rs 1511/1541 a quintal while M-30 fell to Rs 1510/1551 against the previous level of Rs 1540/1585 a quintal on dull offtake. Meanwhile, sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted low at Rs 1460/1470 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1470/1490 for M-30.

Non-ferrous Metals: A marginally firmer trend was witnessed in copper and tin prices while nickel ruled easy at the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. The undertone remained hesitant.

Copper heavy scraps firmed up by 50 paise at Rs 108.50 a kg on better industrial offtake. Meanwhile all the other metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted as under : copper utensils Rs 96.50, brass utensils Rs 82.50, brass sheetcuttings Rs 89.50 and aluminium utensils Rs 62.50 a kg respectively.

In virgin metals, copper wirebar firmed up by 50 paise at Rs 120 a kg while tin slabs improved by Rs 2 to Rs 342 a kg. Nickel cathodes eased by Re 1 at Rs 319 a kg . Meanwhile, all the other metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted as under : aluminium ingots Rs 82.50, zinc slabs Rs 75.50 and lead ingots Rs 41 a kg, respectively.

Bullion: A stable trend was witnessed on better overseas advices coupled with modest arrivals of both the precious metals in the local bullion market yesterday.

Silver.999 and .916 improved by Rs 80 each to Rs 7580 and Rs 7480 a kg respectively on improved industrial demand and limited arrivals coupled with better overseas advices.

In yellow metals, standard gold and 22 carat gold firmed up by Rs 5 each to Rs 3,920 and Rs 3,625 per 10 grams on better overseas advices and moderate local demand. Gold biscuit prices ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 45, 800 per piece.