Arrival of imported silver on Saturday was about 15,000-20,000 kgs, but sellers withdrew from the market as Indian rupee turned weak at Rs 41.25 per US dollar, consequently, spot silver .999 edged by Rs 15 at Rs 7685 a kg. and silver weekly delivery, which on Saturday evening ruled at Rs 7625, flared upto Rs 7700 a kg on speculative buying. Silver coins also recorded a rise of Rs 100 at Rs 10,300-10,500 per 100 pieces.

Arrival of gold on Saturday was reported about 1500 kgs. but sellers withdrew from the market because of firm US dollar against Rupee and on strong demand from Punjab, Haryana and UP, gold biscuit and standard flared up by Rs 55-60 at Rs 4265 and Rs 4280 per 10 gram respectively. Gold sovereign, too, looked up by Rs 25 at Rs 3500-3525 per 8 gram.

Mumbai: Both silver and gold improved moderately on the bullion market on Monday following persistent industrialsupport coupled with some seasonal demand.

The activity was at a low ebb in view of a holiday in the major international markets including London and New York.

Silver (.999 fineness) moved up by Rs 10 to Rs 7750. Raw silver rose by Rs 30 to 7625 while tenderable silver was up by Rs 10 at Rs 7755.

Standard gold added 20 points at Rs 4180 and 22-carat gold was nominally placed higher at Rs 3865 from previous close of Rs 3850. Ten-told gold bar (.999 purity) strengthened by 300 points to Rs 49,100.

Grains, pulses mixed

Delhi grains and pulses market revealed a mixed tendency on Monday.

Most parts of the country are in the grip of severe heat wave, consequently, arrivals of wheat in the mandies were reported poor. Arrivals on Delhi mandies declined to about 10,000-12,000 bags daily, as a result, wheat dara improved by Rs 2 at Rs 525-530 a quintal.

Daily arrival of rice was reported about 15,000 bags and due to slack demand from despatchers as well as exporters, rice permal slipped by Rs 10 aquintal. Similarly, on improved supply, maize and barley marked down by Rs 10-15 a quintal.

Following decline in pulses output coupled with firm Bihar and MP advices, arhar recorded a gain of Rs 20-25 a quintal.

Sugar sluggish

Business in mill delivery sugar continued to remain sluggish on selling pressure of imported sugar. Production of sugar during the current season till April was 128 lakh tonnes and till September, it is expected to cross 130 lakh tonnes mark. Scattered demand in mill delivery sugar Mawana was reported at Rs 1425, Chandpur and Bijnore at Rs 1342 and Modi at Rs 1390 a quintal. Offtake in gur was reported poor.

Muzaffarnagar: Gur peri, rapsaya and raskat plummeted on the gur (jaggery) primary market here on Monday following fresh arrivals coupled with poor offtake, while chorsa superior and chakku inferior improved mildly on increased demand.

Reports of lower upcountry advices in the wake of increased arrivals induced prices of pedi, rapsaya and raskat to slide down,dealers said.

Gur pedi traded lower from Rs 1150-1170 to Rs 1100-1125 a quintal truck load and rapsaya quoted at Rs 1000-1050 from Rs 1000-1100. Raskat also followed similarly and dropped to superior side to close at Rs 740-760 against Rs 740-770.

On the other hand, chorsa and chakku marked ahead from Rs 940-990 and Rs 1025-1100 to finish at Rs 950-1000 and Rs 1050-1100 a quintal respectively a truck load. Gur pedi, at the Delhi wholesale market, attracted buying interest and closed higher at Rs 1180-1200 from Rs 1150-1200 a quintal.

Edible oils spurt

Import of edible oil, in the first six months of current oil year till April, was down by 2 lakh tonnes to about 4.39 lakh tonnes and in the absence of reduction in import duty on edible oils, prices started climbing up. Mustard oil recorded a sharp spurt of Rs 40-50 at Rs 3820-3850 while on last Friday, it was priced at Rs 3720-3750 a quintal.

Cottonseed oil marked up by Rs 20 at Rs 3950 a quintal. Palmolein in Malaysia dipped to $700 a tonne,which failed to have any impact on prices because of firm dollar.

In the absence of fresh import, palmfatty flared up by Rs 125-150 at Rs 2400-2650 a quintal. Castor and neem oil prices firmed up by Rs 30-50 a quintal due to paucity of ready stock.

Mumbai: Groundnut oil and linseed oil maintained their firm trend in an otherwise dull oils and oilseeds market here on Monday.

In the edible section, groundnut oil hardened further on stray local buying support while palmoil and groundnuts held fully steady. Turning to the industrial sector, linseed oil firmed up on good buying enquiries from the paint industry. Other items were featureless.

In futures, castorseeds June contract opened better at Rs 1292 from weekend levels of Rs 1290 and touched the day's peak of Rs 1294 on bull support. However, profit-selling at higher levels pared early gains and it closed at Rs 1291. The September contract ended higher at Rs 1353 from Rs 1350.

Groundnut oil edged up to Rs 425 from the previous finish of Rs 424 andlinseed oil rose to Rs 382 from Rs 380. Palmoil at Rs 382, groundnut ready bold at Rs 1980, linseed ready bold at Rs 1400, castoroil commercial at Rs 286 and castorseeds ready Madras at Rs 1277 all finished at their weekend levels.

Black pepper declines

Following recent rains in Indonesia, new black pepper there is expected to hit the market by July and supply of new crop black pepper of Vietnam was reported to be going on. Demand from Western countries was reported negligible after the Pokhran test. Consequently, golden black pepper, on Delhi market slumped by Rs 300 at Rs 20500 a quintal and cardamom brown tumbled down by Rs 200 a quintal due to slack demand from exporters.

Smuggled inflow of dry fruits was reported on Tuesday and Friday from Pakistan, on the Delhi mandies, as a result, almond California, its kernel and pistachio slipped by Rs 2 to Rs 10 a kg. Copra Tiptur slumped by Rs 100 a quintal as there was no official procurement as support prices have not yet been announced by theGovernment.

Twines down

Twines (3x14 lbs and 9.5 lbs) marked down by Rs 25-50 at Rs 1375, Rs 1400 and Rs 1800-1850 per quintal on increased arrivals from Calcutta and Nepal. B. Twill, A. Twill, harapatta and hessians were unaltered and were sluggish.

Cone yarn higher

Mostly counts in hank and cone yarn were placed higher by Rs 2-5 per bundle as the millers quoted their rates higher due to strong cotton prices. Handloom and powerloom units demand also had buoyant. On the other hand, hank and cone yarn, Gulabpura and Hansi (20) marked down by Rs 5 at Rs 360 and Rs 390-395 per bundle. Hosiery yarn lacked offtake.

Mentha oil shoots up

Following advices from producing markets, mentha oil shot up by Rs 26 at Rs 340 per kg and menthol flake and bold firmed up by Rs 20-40 at Rs 450-490 per kg.

Thymol, too, improved by Rs 5 at Rs 280 per kg. DMO gained Rs 15 at Rs 105 per kg. Other chemicals were unchanged.

Copper wire slips

As the industrial demand has declined furtherdue to powercuts, copper wire bar, rod, wire and utensils, mixed scrap and accessories slipped by Rs 1-1.50 per kg.

Aluminium rod also eased by 50 paise per kg. On the other hand, zinc oxide, brass and bell metal scrap demand averaging to 5 tonnes, zinc dross marked up by 50 paise at Rs 60 per kg. Other metals were unchanged.

Potato goes up

Punjab potato firmed up from Rs 300-350 to Rs 400-480 per 80 kgs. as the inflow declined to nearly 80 trucks. Store potato of Uttar Pradesh held steady at Rs 460-500. Onion was unchanged on strong availability of nearly 120 trucks. Superior quality sold at Rs 140-150.

Cement weak

Cement ruled weak despite better demand. Due to labouror shortage, the offtake was considerably down. Hence, the prices were down by Rs 5 per bag as J.K. Shakti, J.K. Super, Lakshmi, L&T, Shree cement and Virkam cement f.o.r. rates declined to Rs 142 per bag.