Yellow Metal Prices Fall, Groundnut Oil Steady

Castor oil firmed up in a mixed oilseeds market here yesterday. Castorseeds futures ruled subdued. In the industrial sector, castorseeds and its oil looked up on renewed enquiries from shippers and soap manufacturers. Linseeds and its oil ruled quiet.

In the futures market, castorseeds September opened slightly better at Rs 1133.50 on overnight support. Later, prices reacted on selling pressure from leading operators and closed at Rs 1131 from Rs 1133 previously.

Among edible oils, groundnut oil at Rs 354 and groundnuts ready at Rs 1880 were held steady at its previous levels on scattered support.

However, imported palm oil gained by two rupees to Rs 270 due to poor supplies as against good offtake.

Castor oil firmed up to Rs 248 from Rs 247 and castorseeds ready Madras improved to Rs 1094 from Rs 1090 previously. Linseed oil at Rs 280 and linseeds ready at Rs 1300 were unaltered from the previous levels.

Non-ferrous metals: Indian nickel prices lost previously gained ground yesterday while copper slid further, dealers said. Other base metals were steady on limited activity. Nickel prices fell by Rs 200 at Rs 35,400 per quintal amid sluggish industrial buying while weak world market trends prompted fresh selling. Nickel was up by Rs 200 rupees per quintal on Tuesday.

"Fresh arrivals of Russian metals also trimmed recent gains," one broker said.

Copper slid by Rs 25 at Rs 13,850 per quintal on the back of sliding global prices. Aluminium was steady at Rs 7,700 per quintal. So was zinc at Rs 8,100 and lead at Rs 4,100 per quintal amid limited activity.

Tin was steady at Rs 30,400 per quintal after gaining Rs 200 per quintal on Tuesday.

Overall market sentiment was subdued at the close of the session amid sliding global prices and scattered physical enquiries.

Bullion: Gold prices dipped to a three-year low of Rs 4590 per ten grams even as silver ruled steady on the bullion market here yesterday. The yellow metal continued to drift lower in the absence of buying interest and increased supplies from abroad and dropped below the Rs 4593 level, registered on August 19, 1994.

Demand for gold has been good but the ever increasing supplies through imports has eroded the value of this metal which is considered to be the "safe haven for investment" during calamities.

Meanwhile, silver ruled steady on stray support. Silver ready .999 fineness closed at Rs 6750, raw silver .916 fineness at Rs 6650 and tenderable silver at Rs 6755 showing no change from the previous day's close. Standard gold dropped to Rs 4590 from Rs 4600. 22-carat gold was nominally indicated lower at Rs 4245 from Rs 4255. Ten-tola gold bar .999 purity declined to Rs 53,700 from Rs 53,800 previously.