Silver Recovers, Gnut Oil Steady, Sugar Divergent

Lacklustre trading was witnessed in groundnut oil whereas other industrial oils ruled easy-to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market here yesterday.

Groundnut oil ruled overall steady and was nominally quoted at Rs 371 per 10 kg.

Castor oil commercial and BSS qualities eased further by Rs 2 each to Rs 271 and Rs 283 per 10 kg respectively. Sesame oil and copra oil white declined by Rs 5 each to Rs 350 and Rs 485 per 10 kg.

Karanji oil and ricebran oil dipped by Rs 2 each to Rs 160 and Rs 180 per 10 kg on improved arrivals. Imported palmolein held steady and was nominally quoted at Rs 323 per 10 kg on narrow movement.

In the futures section, castorseeds March98 contract opened Rs 5 lower at Rs 1210 and firmed up to Rs 1213 a quintal. It declined to Rs 1210 before closing at Rs 1211.50 on speculative movements. June contract opened Rs 7.50 lower at Rs 1249 and closed at Rs 1251.50 a quintal.

Sugar: A mixed trend prevailed in sugar prices on lower consumer offtake here yesterday. S-30 looked up to Rs 1420/1455 from the previous level of Rs 1420/1445 a quintal on modest demand.

M-30 fell further to Rs 1435/1509 as against previous level of Rs 1440/1515 a quintal on normal arrivals. Meanwhile, sugar for the check post deliveries were quoted lower at Rs 1400/1410 a quintal for S-30 and Rs 1415/1430 for the M-30.

Non-ferrous metals : A firm-to-upward trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market here yesterday.

In scraps section, copper heavy scraps improved by 50 paise, while copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings firmed up by 25 paise each to Rs 105.50, Rs 93.50, Rs 83 and Rs 87.50 a kg respectively. Aluminium utensils were nominally quoted at Rs 62 a kg.

In virgin metals, nickel cathodes and zinc slabs dropped further by Rs 2 and 25 paise to Rs 310 and Rs 70.75 a kg respectively. Copper wirebar firmed up by 50 paise at Rs 115 a kg on better industrial offtake. Other metals ruled for the most part steady and were nominally quoted as under : aluminium ingots Rs 82, lead ingots Rs 40 and tin slabs Rs 345 a kg respectively.

Bullion : Silver recovered at reduced level on firm overseas advices coupled with limited arrivals, whereas gold was stable in the local bullion market yesterday.

Silver.999 and .916 improved by Rs 60 and Rs 100 to Rs 8850 and Rs 8715 a kg respectively on firm overseas advices and reduced arrivals.

Standard gold and 22 carat gold ruled were nominally quoted at Rs 3980 and Rs 3680 per 10 grams respectively. Gold biscuit prices ruled steady and were nominally quoted at Rs 46,600 per piece of bar.