Sugar Steady, Groundnut Oil Easy, Bullion Weakens

Groundnut oil continued to rule easy on sluggish demand at higher levels coupled with better arrivals at the wholesale oils and oilseeds market here yesterday. Industrial oils ruled easy-to-steady, while imported palmolein ruled firm.

In the futures section, castor seeds March 98 remained untraded, while June contract opened lower but firmed up towards closing. Groundnut oil declined further by Rs 2 at Rs 391 per 10 kg on reduced consumer demand at higher levels coupled with normal arrivals from the producing centres. Arrivals were put at around 85-90 tonnes a day.

Copra oil white and linseed oil declined by Rs 25 and Rs 10 to Rs 445 and Rs 350 per 10 kg respectively. Rapeseed oil refined and sunflower oil expeller receded by Rs 4 and Rs 5 to Rs 355 and Rs 370 per 10 kg respectively on reduced industrial demand. Imported palmolein held overall steady and was quoted at Rs 357 per 10 kg.

In futures section, the June contract opened Rs 2 lower at Rs 1270.50 a quintal and firmed up to Rs 1278. It declined to Rs 1270.50 before closing to Rs 1278 a quintal on speculative movements. In oilseeds, castorseeds Madras and Maharashtra declined Rs 10 each to Rs 1224 and 1218 a quintal respectively on dull demand.

Sugar: A steady-to-subdued trend was noticed in sugar prices at the local sugar market.

Sugar S-30 ruled overall steady and were nominally quoted at the previous level of Rs 1425/1460 a quintal on subdued consumer demand. The M-30 grade also held steady and was nominally quoted at Rs 1460/1520 a quintal on modest buying interest and normal availability of ready stock.

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

Non-ferrous metals: A steady trend was witnessed in the local non-ferrous metals market yesterday. The undertone remained hesitant.

In the virgin section, zinc slabs looked up by 50 paise at Rs 70.50 a kg on better industrial interest. All the other metals ruled overall steady and were quoted as: copper wirebar Rs 117, aluminium ingots Rs 82, lead ingots Rs 40.50, tin slabs Rs 338 and nickel cathodes Rs 305 a kg. In scraps section, all the metals ruled overall steady and were quoted as: copper heavy scraps Rs 106.50, copper utensils Rs 93.25, brass utensils Rs 83.75, brass sheetcuttings Rs 88 and aluminium utensils Rs 62 a kg respectively.

Bullion: An easy-to-dull trend was noticed in the local market yesterday. Both the precious metals ruled weak. The market undertone remained dull. In white metals, silver .999 and .916 declined by Rs 50 each to Rs 8560 and Rs 8440 a kg respectively. on dull overseas advices. Delhi advices also indicated a modest trend.

In yellow metals, both - standard gold and 22 carat gold eased Rs 25 each to Rs 4045 and Rs 3740 per 10 grams on dull demand. Overseas advices also indicated weak trend. Gold biscuit prices also weakened by Rs 200 at Rs 47,600 per piece of gold bar on subdued movements.