Wheat dara moved up from Rs 680-690 to Rs 688-695 a quintal as arrivals from the neighbouring states remained poor because of Shivratri coupled with stockists buying. Roller mill atta, maida and suji also ruled firm. Suji edged up by Rs 20 at Rs 760 per bag.

Business in rice and coarse grains remained sluggish in view of favourable rains. On inflow of about 8-10 lorries of new moong from Karnataka, its prices plummeted by Rs 50 at Rs 1750-1800 a quintal and UP moong was also down by Rs 25 at Rs 1700 a quintal. Dal arhar suffered a sharp setback of Rs 100 a quintal due to dull demand while gram prices showed signs of improvement due to restricted supply.

Palmolein rises

Palmolein in Malaysia firmed up by $15 to $360 a tonne in the expectations of demand from China, as a result edible oil prices at the local as well as upcountry centres startedfirming up. Consequently, groundnut, sesame, mustard and sunflower mill delivery oils, in edible section, flared up by Rs 50-150 a quintal.

Palmolein in Mumbai shot up from Rs 2100 to Rs 2220 a quintal and groundnut oil flared up by Rs 40 at Rs 3720 a quintal. Palmolein at the local market, climbed up from Rs 2450 to Rs 2600 a quintal.

Sugar firm

Mill delivery sugar prices revealed a firm tendency as supply of imported sugar remained poor coupled with good demand from local, UP and Haryana parties.

Mill delivery sugar Mawana was traded at Rs 1505, Dauralla at Rs 1415, Modi at Rs 1422, Titabi at Rs 1415, Simbhouli at Rs 1408 and Bagpat at Rs 1382 a quintal.

Bullion up

Despite weak overseas advices, both the precious metals, at the local bullion market, revealed a firm tendency on Monday in view of firm dollar.Though silver in Hong Kong slipped from 540 cents to 538 cents an ounce, yet spot silver .999 fineness edged up by Rs 20 at Rs 8040 a kg on good demand from Punjab, Haryana, UPand Patna buyers. Similarly silver weekly delivery, on speculative buying firmed up by Rs 20 at Rs 8040 a kg.

Silver coins held steady at Rs 10,600-10,700 per 100 pieces.

Gold in Hong Kong ruled easy at $256 an ounce and imported inflow went up to 600 kg from 400 kg on Saturday, yet gold biscuit and standard mint gold looked up by Rs 5 at Rs 4030 and Rs 4040 per 10 gram, respectively on strong upcountry demand. Gold sovereign remained unchanged at Rs 3600-3625 per 8 gram.

Old gunny bags go up

Following increased demand for paddy-filling from Punjab and Haryana, prices of old gunny bags in the local market spurted by Rs 50 at Rs 1150-1250 and Rs 1250-1350 per 100 bags. According to marketmen FPS bags wholesale stock was lacking in the local market. Sugar gunny bags ruled firm at Rs 1900-2050 per 100 bags. The market was short in stock of B. twill 2-1/2 lbs also. B. twill 2 lbs, A. twill, harapatta, hessian, canvas and twines were maintained at the last price close.

Mentha oildearer

Menthol products maintained prices flare up trend in the local market. According to market sources, menthol products are witnessing unprecedented rise in prices on the back of sharp rise in UP mandies. As stockists offtake continued, mentha oil, flake and bold flared up further on Monday by Rs 40-70 to Rs 605, Rs 810 and Rs 880 per kg.

Howver DMO fell by Rs 10 to Rs 165 per kg on account of slack offtake. Thymol ruled firm. Safolite edged up by Rs 3 to Rs 73 per kg due to restricted supplies by manufacturers.

Nickel plate spurts

Nickel plate settled further higher by Rs 5-10 at Rs 365-400 per kg as per size due to prices rising in overseas markets and stockists trading amongst themselves. Zinc slab moved upward by Rs 1.75 at Rs 79.75 per kg. Zinc dross also marked up by 50 paise a kg.

In copper products, copper wire, rod and its wire went up by Rs 3-5 at Rs 120, Rs 124-128 and Rs 132 per kg. In antimony and bell metal scrap the arrivals declined and prices moved up by Rs 2-5 atRs 81 and Rs 145 per kg. Copper utensil, mixed scrap and wire scrap moved up by 50 paise to Rs 1.50 per kg. HCL was expected to hike sale prices of copper in the near term.

Mushroom edges up

Mushroom prices edged up by Rs 5 at Rs 45-50 per kg as arrivals from UP and Haryana declined. Lemon prices also spurted. As arrivals declined to around 40 trucks, superior lemon shot up to Rs 900-1200 and midium quality to Rs 400-600 per quintal. Potato and onion were almost unchanged.