Silver Edges Up To Rs 9350, Gnut Oil Eases, Sugar Firm

Groundnut oil receded on subdued offtake coupled with easy arrivals, whereas other industrial oils ruled better-to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market here yesterday.

Groundnut oil eased by Rs 2 at Rs 359 per 10 kg on reduced consumer demand. Arrivals from the producing centres remained at around 85/90 tonnes a day.

Cottonseed oil washed and refined varieties eased by Re 1 each to Rs 313 and Rs 315 per 10 kg respectively. Copra oil white softened by Rs 5 to Rs 535 per 10 kg on reduced industrial demand. Soya oil refined declined by Rs 2 at Rs 311 per 10 kg while sunflower oil expeller improved further by Rs 4 at Rs 340 per 10 kg.

Imported palmolein ruled overall steady and was nominally quoted at Rs 304 per 10 kg on narrow movements.

In futures section, castorseeds March'98 contract opened Rs 2.50 up at Rs 1201.50 and improved to Rs 1214.50 a quintal. It declined to Rs 1201.50 before closing to Rs 1214.50 a quintal on speculative movements. June contract opened Rs 10 up at Rs 1240 a quintal and ruled overall steady at the same level through out the session.

Sugar : A firm to upward trend was noticed in sugar prices on better consumer offtake coupled with normal arrivals here yesterday. Both the grades ruled firm. The undertone of the market remained weak.

S-30 firmed up to Rs 1460/1480 against the previous level of Rs 1455/1470 a quintal. M-30 grade improved to Rs 1475/1550 as against the previous level of Rs 1475/1515 a quintal.. Meanwhile, sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted firm at Rs 1438/1450 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1455/1475 for the M-30.

Non-ferrous metals : A steady trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. In the scraps section, all the metals ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted as under : copper heavy scraps Rs 106, copper utensils Rs 94.50, brass utensils Rs 83.75, brass sheetcuttings Rs 88.50 and aluminium utensils Rs 62.50 a kg respectively.

In virgin metals, the quotes were copper wirebars Rs 116, 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 on narrow movements.

Bullion : Silver prices strengthened further on strong overseas advices coupled with hectic speculative dealings, while gold prices ruled slightly firm in the local bullion market yesterday. The undertone of the market remained firm.

Silver .999 and .916 strengthened further by Rs 340 and Rs 165 to Rs 9,350 and Rs 9,200 a kg respectively on strong overseas advices coupled with short supply of the ready stock.

Standard gold and 22 carat gold looked up by Rs 10 each to Rs 4,000 and Rs 3,700 per 10 grams. Gold biscuit prices also improved by Rs 100 at Rs 46,800 per piece .