Mustard oil shot up by Rs 50 at Rs 4600 a quintal and mustard laha moved up by Rs 25 at Rs 1900 a quintal. Groundnut oil in Mumbai scaled a new high of Rs 5000, showing a sharp spurt of Rs 100 a quintal.

Mumbai: Groundnut oil ruled steady at the improved level on the oil,oilseeds market here today. Castorseed and its oil on the other hand improved on overseas enquiries and fresh short covering by bears and shippers.

Groundnut oil remained steady at the peak level of Rs 496 per 10 kg amidst demand resistance. Thin inflow and shortage of ready stock helped prices to consolidate gains as daily arrivals dropped to 30/40 tonnes as against normal average supply of 80/100 tonnes in thecity market. Introduction of price ceiling in the producing centres particularly in Gujarat region had arrested supplies of groundnut oil to the city market, according to trade sources. In Rajkot it was placed at Rs 685 per 15 kg.

Imported palm oil closed a rupee lower at Rs 377 per 10 kg exclusive of tax on news that government is planning to import palm oil for public distribution system.

Meanwhile castor oil shot up by Rs 5 to Rs 323/335 per 10 kg as fresh overseas interest prompted short covering by shippers. Castorseed ready hardened by Rs 24 at Rs 1448/1454 per quintal in sympathy.

In the futures section castorseed September delivery advanced from Rs 1438 to Rs 1444.50 before concluding at Rs 1440.50 on steady bull buying. In Ahmedabad prices quoted higher from Rs 1445 to Rs 1463 before closing at Rs 1455 per quintal, it was learnt. In Gujarat inflow of castorseed dropped to 15000 bags from 25000 bags. Castorseed spot delivery changed hands at Rs 287 as against Rs 280 while castor oil placedhigher from Rs 305 to Rs 310 per 10 kg respectively.

Wheat firm

The local grains and pulses market displayed a mixed tendency on Saturday.Buffer stock of foodgrains in June with the Government went upto 285.90 lakh tonnes from 223.60 lakh tonnes, of which wheat was 159.20 lakh tonnes as against 109.60 lakh tonnes, but traders were still anticipating firm tendency in wheat prices.

Daily arrival of wheat from the neighbouring states plunged to 5,000-7,000 bags from 10,000-12,000 a bags, consequently, wheat dara edged up by Rs 5 at Rs 585-595 a quintal on good demand from the South India.

Among pulses, on panic selling by the stockists, urad, moong and rajmash chitra tumbled down by Rs 25-100 a quintal while on strong demand in gram dal, gram Rajasthani further flared up by Rs 30 at Rs 1150 a quintal and quality gram dal recorded a rise of Rs 20 at Rs 1410 a quintal.

On encouraging producing centres advices, masoor and its dal climbed up by Rs 20-50 a quintal.

Sugar dull

Business inmill delivery sugar remained dull because of weak upcountry demand. Mill delivery sugar of Simbhauli etc. mills was quoted lower by Rs 5 a quintal. Scattered deals in mill delivery sugar Modi were settled at Rs 1430 and Shamali tax paid at Rs 1520 a quintal.

Marginal gain in gold

In a limited activity, silver suffered a mild loss while gold, on the local bullion market showed a mild gain on Saturday.

Overseas quotations were not available on Saturday because of holiday. However, on inflow of about 3000 kgs silver on Friday, spot silver .999 further dipped by Rs 20 at Rs 8030 a kg. while silver weekly delivery on speculative buying held steady at Rs 8015 a kg. Silver coins also remained unchanged at Rs 10400-10600 per 100 pieces.

Gold prices in the East Asian countries ruled firm, consequently, gold biscuit and standard mint gold on the local market improved by Rs 5 at Rs 4345 and Rs 4355 per 10 gram respectively. No change was recorded in gold sovereign at Rs 3500-3550 per 8 gram.

Mumbai:Boththe precious metals recovered modestly from the reduced level on the bullion market here today.

Standard gold moved up by Rs 5 to Rs 4,290 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat was up by same margin to Rs 3,970 per 10 gm. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm.) hardened by Rs 100 to Rs 50,500 per piece. Seasonal demand was sluggish. But poor supplies and prevailing uptrend in dollar value after recent setback influenced gold to bounce back, dealers said. In the global market gold was quiet at $294.25/294.50 an ounce.

Silver .999 rose by Rs 15 to Rs 8,015 per kg. In the ready section silver .916 up by same margin to Rs 7,890 per kg. Fresh industrial interest attributed to the rise after recent setback while thin supplies and lack of ready stock arrested fresh offerings. Silver was down by Rs 100 on Friday. Delhi advices were encouraging. In the global market the white metal remained unchanged at $5.34/5.35 an ounce.