Silver Edges Up, Gnut Oil Firm, Sugar Dull

Groundnut oil recovered from lower levels on limited arrivals from the producing centres coupled with improved demand whereas other industrial oils ruled better-to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market, Turbhe, Navi Mumbai yesterday.

Groundnut oil firmed up by Rs 3 at Rs 361 per 10 kg on improved consumer demand. .

In other oils, castor oil comm.and BSS varieties improved further by Re one each to Rs 277 and Rs 289 per 10 kg respectively. Copra oil white firmed up by Rs 5 to Rs 540 per 10 kg. Soya oil refined and sunflower oil expeller improved by Rs 3 and Rs 4 to Rs 313 and Rs 336 per 10 kg.Imported palmolein firmed up by Re one to Rs 304 per 10 kg.

In futures section, castorseeds March '98 contract opened Rs 8 up at Rs 1207 a quintal. It later declined and closed at Rs 1199 on speculative movements. June contract opened Rs 3 up at Rs 1230 a quintal, and ruled overall steady at the same level.

Sugar: An easy-to-subdued trend was noticed in sugar prices on dull consumer offtake coupled with normal arrivals.

Sugar S-30 grade eased to Rs 1455/1470 against the previous level of Rs 1458/1475 a quintal. Sugar M-30 grade declined to Rs 1475/1515 as against the previous level of Rs 1478/1525 a quintal.

Sugar for the checkpost deliveries were quoted firm at Rs 1438/1455 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1455/1480 for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals: An easy-to-steady trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. In the scraps section, copper heavy scraps and copper utensils eased by 50 paise each to Rs 106 and Rs 94.50 a kg respectively. Brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings softened by 25 paise each to Rs 83.75 and Rs 88.50 a kg. Aluminium utensils ruled overall steady, and were quoted at Rs 62.50 a kg on narrow movements.

In virgin metals, copper wirebars eased by 50 paise at Rs 116 per kg. Meanwhile, all the other metals ruled overall steady, and were nominally quoted as under : aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 71.50, lead ingots Rs 40, tin slabs Rs 335 and nickel cathodes Rs 328 a kg respectively.

Bullion: A divergent trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. Silver strengthened further on firm overseas advices coupled with paucity of ready stock while gold eased on dull buying interest.

In white metals, silver .999 and .916 advanced further by Rs 320 and Rs 255 to Rs 9,010 and Rs 8,835 a kg respectively on strong overseas advices coupled with short supply of ready stock.

In yellow metals, standard gold and 22 carat gold eased further by Rs 60 and Rs 55 to at Rs 3,990 and Rs 3,690 per 10 grammes. Gold biscuit prices also declined by Rs 700 at Rs 47,400 per piece.