Tin, Nickel Firm Up, Bullion Declines Moderately

Castorseeds futures gained smartly while ready oils and seeds ruled subdued on the oilseeds market yesterday.

In the futures market, castorseeds December opened better at Rs 1167 on overnight buying.

Prices continued to surge ahead on bull support from leading operators to meet export commitments and ended at Rs 1171.50, showing a rise of Rs 6.50 over the previous close of Rs 1165.

Among edible oils, groundnut oil softened by Rs 2.00 to Rs 328 from the last close of Rs 330 due to poor offtake as opposed to increased arrivals from the producing regions.

Groundnuts ready bold held stagnant at its previous close of Rs 1860.

Sugar: Prices of sugar small quality ended narrowly mixed while medium quality remained steady at the wholesale market yesterday due to restricted support from consumers and poor arrivals from mills, dealers said.

S-30 quality sugar firmed up to Rs 1426/1455 per quintal while M-30 quality finished steady at Rs 1450/1498 per quintal.

Non-ferrous metals: Tin and nickel showed remarkable gains while other metals ruled mixed on the non-ferrous metals market yesterday.

Tin firmed by Rs 2.00 to Rs 293 and nickel by Rs 2.00 to Rs 325 on good support from industrial units, dealers said.

Zinc improved by 25 paise to 85.25 and brass sheet cuttings also firmed up by 50 paise to Rs 102.50 on better local offtake.

The following were today's rates: Copper scrap heavy Rs 121.00, copper wire bar Rs 129.00, copper utensils Rs 111.00, brass scrap Rs 97.00, brass sheets cutting Rs 102.50, aluminium utensils scrap Rs 60.00, aluminium ingots Rs 78.00, zinc Rs 85.25 and lead Rs 41.00 (Rs 41.00)

Bullion: Both the precious metals declined moderately on the bullion market yesterday due to lack of buying interest as compared to increased arrivals through imports and adequate stocks position.

Weak price trends in the overseas markets also propelled the slide in the local markets.

Silver ready .999 fineness dropped by Rs 40 per kilo to Rs 6780 from the previous close of Rs 6820 on account of poor local offtake.

Raw silver .916 fineness and tenderable silver slumped by Rs 40 each to Rs 6680 and Rs 6785 from the last close of Rs 6720 and Rs 6825 respectively.

Standard gold declined by Rs 10 to Rs 4380 from the last close of Rs 4390 per 10 grams owing to surplus stocks.

22-carat gold was nominally quoted lower by Rs 10 to Rs 4050 from the last close of Rs 4060. Ten-tola gold bar .999 purity was unaltered from the previous close of Rs 51,500.