Imported palm oil edged down by a rupee to Rs 354 per 10 kg amidst sluggish demand and steady supplies in the wake of weak overseas advices. In the global market palm oil fell to $685 per tonne before closing at $690 per tonne for nearby delivery and long deliveries were quoted at $680/682.50 per tonne. Castor oil fell by Rs 3 to Rs 418/432 per 10 kg. Castorseed ready were down by Rs 24 at Rs 1904/1910 per quintal. Inflow of castorseed dropped to 4000 bags as against 6000 bags received on Wednesday.

In the futures section castorseed December delivery spurted from Rs 1670 to Rs 1683 per quintal asbears and shippers were covering short position ahead of delivery period. In Ahmedabad December delivery quoted at Rs 1,731 and in Rajkot at Rs 1,685 per quintal. Hyderabad advices remained firm.

Bullion hardens

Gold and silver hardened on the bullion market here today. Standard gold closed Rs 20 higher at Rs 4,340 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat was up by same margin at Rs 4,015 per 10 gm. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm.) shot up by Rs 400 to Rs 51,000 per piece. Demand for the wedding season continued while tight supplies and higher global advices pushed prices upward, according to dealers. In the global market gold prices moved up from $295.25 to $298 per ounce.

Silver .999 gained Rs 55 to Rs 7,550 per kg. Silver .916 was up by Rs 75 to Rs 7,435 per kg in sympathy. Industrial demand however was slow but speculators were active buyers in the wake of shortage of ready stock coupled with rally in the world market. Delhi was firm and in the overseas market the white metal went up from $4.97 to $5.01per ounce.

Sugar subdued

A dull-to-subdued condition was noticed on the sugar market as the demand continued to be on the low side.

M-30 at Rs 1445-1498 and S-30 at Rs 1425-1460 a quintal ex-godown were static. Ex-octroi checkpost, M-30 at Rs 1430-1440 and S-30 at Rs 1405-1420 were easy by about Rs 5. Imported sugar continued to be on offer at Rs 1425 inclusive of tax.

In tenders, M-30 at Rs 1380-1390 and S-30 at Rs 1355-1375 in Kolhapur line were quiet.

Grains rule weak

A weak trend prevailed on the grains market following slack demand, coupled with raids by the rationing department.

Tur Kenyan were further down from Rs 2100 to Rs 2025-2030 a quintal. Similarly, Tanzanian tur fell from Rs 2225 to Rs 2150. Myanmar tur 98 and 97 were static at Rs 2200 and at Rs 2100 respectively. Kabuli gram A-2 found keen offerings at Rs 3300-3400. B-2 at Rs 2700-2800, C-2 at Rs 2300-2400 and natural at Rs 2500-2600 lost Rs 100 afresh. Green peas USA were steady at Rs 1625. However, Canadian weredown by Rs 25 at Rs 1100.

Myanmar urad ruled at Rs 1675-1700 and moong at Rs 1850. Rajma chitra deshi at Rs 2400-2500, red rajma imported at Rs 2500 and Australian gram at Rs 1550 were unchanged.

Wheat and rice were quietly steady. Wheat north Gujarat tukadi were on offer at Rs 790-825 and 496 at Rs 825-850. Rice Gujarat-17 ruled at Rs 1700-1750.

Punjab cotton down

North zone cottons lost fresh ground while other centres reported quietly steady conditions. Mill demand remained very restricted.

Arrivals in Punjab zone consisted of 5000 bales of Bengal deshi and 10,000 bales of J-34. Price lost Rs 10 to 15 a maund. Bengal deshi ready roller-ginned were placed at Rs 1585-1610 and saw-ginned at Rs 1660-1700 spot. J-34 saw-ginned good average Punjab were placed at Rs 1800-1875, Haryana at Rs 1800-1830 and Rajasthan at Rs 1760-1790. Cart selected J-34 ruled in the range of Rs 1815-1940.

Yarn steady

A quietly steady condition prevailed on the yarn market.

Viscose filament yarn brightcones first quality Century Rayon/Indian Rayon 150dn ruled at Rs 217, 120dn at Rs 239, 100dn at Rs 248 and 75dn at Rs 264 a kg. 120dn dull cones were on offer at Rs 247.

Nylon yarn Shreelon 15/1/0dn were quoted at Rs 240 and 20/1/0dn at Rs 225. Gujnil 30/1/0dn and 111/24/0dn were on offer at Rs 290 and at Rs 157 respectively.

Delhi

In the absence of demand from the importing countries, black pepper golden, here crashed by Rs 500 at Rs 20,500 a quintal and cardamom small slipped by Rs 5 a kg due to poor offtake.

Turmeric prices held steady as daily arrival in Erode mandi plummeted 2000 bags from 7000 bags.