Slide In Groundnut Oil; Gold, Silver Firm Up

Groundnut oil continued to decline on weak demand coupled with brisk arrivals, whereas other industrial oils ruled better-to-steady at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market here yesterday.

Groundnut oil fell further by Rs 3 at Rs 357 per 10 kg on sluggish consumer demand. Arrivals remained good at around 100 tonnes a day.

Cottonseed oil washed and refined qualities eased by Rs 3 each to Rs 308 and Rs 311 per 10 kg respectively. Mowra oil and copra oil white dropped by Rs 5 each to Rs 240 and Rs 565 per 10 kg respectively on reduced offtake. Imported palmolein eased further by Re 1 at Rs 300 per 10 kg on subdued demand of imported oil. In the futures section, castorseeds March'98 contract opened 50 paise lower at Rs 1163.50 a quintal closed at Rs 1162.50 on narrow movements.

Kardi seeds slid anew by Rs 25 at Rs 1250 a quintal on reduced industrial demand coupled with easy availability. Meanwhile, all the other oilseeds ruled steady on narrow movements.

Sugar: An easy-to-steady trend was noticed in prices on subdued consumer offtake and limited arrivals yesterday. Both grades ruled easy-to -subdued. The undertone of the market remained dull. S-30 eased to Rs 1478/1495 from the previous level of Rs 1480/1500 a quintal on dull upcountry as well as local consumer demand coupled with moderate arrivals. M-30 ,too, eased to Rs 1498/1530 as against the previous level of Rs 1500/1530 a quintal on dull offtake and modest arrivals.

Non-ferrous Metals: A steady trend was noticed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. The demand remained modest and the undertone was hesitant.

Metals in the scraps section generally ruled steady and were nominally quoted as under : copper heavy scraps Rs 106.50, copper utensils Rs 94.75, brass utensils Rs 82.75, brass sheetcuttings Rs 8.50, aluminium utensils Rs 62.50 a kg respectively on narrow movements. In virgin metals, all the metals ruled totally quiet and were nominally quoted as under : copper wirebar Rs 116.50, aluminium ingots Rs 82, zinc slabs Rs 72.50, lead ingots Rs 39.50, tin slabs Rs 328, nickel cathodes Rs 325 a kg respectively, on narrow movements.

Bullion : An upward trend was noticed in the local bullion market yesterday. The undertone of the market remained weak.

Silver .999 and .916 advanced further by Rs 70 each to Rs 8,400 and Rs 8,300 a kg respectively on firm overseas advices and better industrial demand. The arrivals remained modest. Delhi advices also indicated a better trend.

Both standard gold and 22 carat gold firmed up by Rs 45 each to Rs 4040 and Rs 3,740 per 10 grams on firm overseas advices and modest local demand. Gold biscuit prices also looked up by Rs 600 at Rs 47,300 per piece of gold bar on improved buying interest.