Silver Takes A Flip; Sugar, Groundnut Oil Slide

An easy trend was witnessed in groundnut oil yesterday on weak offtake coupled with brisk arrivals from producing centres. Other industrial oils ruled easy-to-steady.

Groundnut oil slipped by Rs 2 at Rs 371 per 10 kg on reduced consumer demand coupled with improved arrivals from producing centres. Arrivals were put at 100 tonnes a day.

Sesame and copra oil white declined by Rs 5 and Rs 15 to Rs 340 and Rs 480 per 10 kg respectively on sluggish industrial demand. Cottonseed oil refined and sunflower oil expeller eased by Rs 2 each to Rs 324 and Rs 355 per 10 kg respectively. Imported palmolein was nominally quoted at Rs 320 per 10 kg. Most other oils ruled overall steady.

In the futures section, June contract opened Rs 3 lower at Rs 1,229 a quintal. It later declined to close at Rs 1,227 a quintal on speculative movements. In oilseeds, all the oilseeds ruled overall steady.

Sugar: An easy-to-steady trend was witnessed in sugar prices on dull consumer offtake coupled with modest arrivals. Both grades of sugar ruled subdued.

Sugar S-30 was nominally quoted at Rs 1435/1470 a quintal on narrow movements. Sugar M-30 eased further to Rs 1451/1510 against the previous level of Rs 1455/1510 a quintal on subdued demand.

Sugar for check post deliveries was quoted lower at Rs 1410/1425 a quintal for S-30 grade and Rs 1440/1475 for the M-30 grade.

Non-ferrous metals: A firm-to-steady trend was noticed in the non-ferrous metals market. Demand remained moderate against normal arrivals. The market undertone remained hesitant.

In the scraps section, copper heavy scraps, copper utensils, brass utensils and brass sheetcuttings firmed up by 25 paise each to Rs 106, Rs 93.75, Rs 83.25 and Rs 87.75 a kg respectively on improved industrial demand. Aluminium utensils ruled steady at Rs 62 a kg.

In virgin metals, copper wire bars edged up by 25 paise at Rs 115.50 a kg on firm industrial demand. All other metals ruled steady and were nominally quoted as under: aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 70, lead ingots Rs 40, tin slabs Rs 345 and nickel cathodes Rs 310 a kg.

Bullion: An upward-to-firm trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. Both the precious metals ruled firm. The undertone of the market was dull.

Silver .999 and .916 improved by Rs 85 and Rs 80 to Rs 8,685 and Rs 8,570 a kg respectively on firm overseas advices coupled with limited arrivals.

Both standard gold and 22 carat gold firmed up by Rs 10 each to Rs 4,010 and Rs 3,710 per 10 grammes respectively on firm consumer interests. Gold biscuit prices improved by Rs 100 at Rs 47,100 per piece.