Following sale of 4th instalment of 25 tonnes gold by the Bank of England on Tuesday, gold biscuit and standard mint gold fell by Rs 25 at Rs 4520 and Rs 4530 per 10 gram, respectively.

Gold sovereign also fell by Rs 25 at Rs 3800-3850 per 8 gram. Overseas prices hovered around $289 an ounce.

New York silver future moved up from 521 to 526 cents an ounce, consequently, spot silver .999 fineness flared up from Rs 7910 to Rs 7972 a kg and silver weekly delivery, on speculative buying and selling, shot up from Rs 7950 to Rs 8002 a kg.

Silver coins remained unchanged at Rs 10,800-11,000 per 100 pieces.

Mumbai: Gold prices suffered modest losses while silver remained firm on the bullion market here today. Standard gold finished Rs 10 lower at Rs 4,550 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat was down by same margin at Rs 4,210 per 10 gm. Seasonal demand for gold was petered out after recent rally in the prices.

News of fresh auction of 25 tonnes of gold by Bank of England prompted light selling pressure by stockists and local bankers here. Gold biscuit (116.50 gm.) was unchanged at Rs 53,300 per peice. In the overseas market gold bounced back from $287.75 to $290/290.50 per ounce despite the auction of 25 tonnes of gold at the rate of $289.50 per ounce by Bank of England which was oversubscribed by more than 4-times, it was learnt.

Meanwhile in city market silver .999 moved up by Rs 25 at Rs 8,160 per kg and silver .916 was up by same margin at Rs 8,035 per kg. in sympathy. Industrial and seasonal buying attributed to uptrend in silver and traders reported that about 450/500 kg of silver changed hands in the local market today. In the global market the white metal placed at $5.28 as against $5.21 per ounce earlier.

Crude palm oil flares up
Crude palm oil prices flared up from Rs 1780 to Rs 1850 a quintal on support from vanaspati and refining mills coupled with restricted supply from Mumbai. Ensuing mustard crop prospects were reported bright and on inflow of new mustard in Rajasthan and MP, stockists started liquidating old inventories, consequently, mustard oil expeller fell sharply by Rs 50 at Rs 2850 a quintal. Coconut oil Pariwar brand fell from Rs 950 to Rs 915 a tin due to slack demand.

Copra prices also remained subdued on increased arrival in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. On increased inflow of neem oil from Bijapur line, ricebran oil from Punjab and Haryana and Palmfatty from Kandla, their prices fell by Rs 25-50 a quintal.

Mumbai: Groundnut oil ruled firm on the oil,oilseeds market here today. Castorseed and its oil continued its upsurge in the ready delivery but prices lost some of the recent gains in the forward section.

Groundnut oil rose by Rs 4 at Rs 372 per 10 kg on tight supplies and stray physical buying at lower level. In Rajkot it was steady at Rs 590/595 per 15 kg.Imported palm oil moved up by Rs 3 at Rs 211 per 10 kg. Eased overseas supplies followed by bullish overseas advices influenced the recovery, according to market sources. Palm oil in the global market shot up by $2.50 at $357.50 per tonne.

Castor oil moved up by Rs 2 at Rs 356/368 per 10 kg following news of Chinese interest in Indian castor oil, it was learnt. Castorseed ready placed Rs 10 higher at Rs 1,624/1,630 per quintal.

In the futures section castorseed March delivery reacted from Rs 1,654 to Rs.1,639 per quintal as rcent spurt attracted profit-taking by bull operators, floor sources said. In Ahmedabad February delivery settled lower at Rs 1597 and in Rajkot at Rs 1,577 per quintal. Traders reported castorseed arrivals at 35000/40000 bags in Gujarat.

Sugar improves
Mill delivery sugar prices improved by Rs 2-10 a quintal on procurement of about 10-12,000 bags of sugar by local and Uttar Pradesh parties.Mawana sugar was traded at Rs 1422, Modi at Rs 1220, Simbhauli at Rs 1405 and re-processed Douralla sugar, on advanced payment was offered at Rs 1401 a quintal.

Soanf declines
In the recent past, local as well as Kerela stockists pushed up cardamom small prices by Rs 60-70 a kg on floating a rumour that its crop in Guatemala suffered a setback due to earthquake, but as per spices board sources, there was no loss to crop and on stockists selling, its prices slipped by Rs 10-20 at Rs 350-730 a kg. Further rise in cloves and mace was also arrested.

On inflow of new zeera in Unjha mandi and on liquidation of hoarded inventory, its prices crashed by Rs 50-300 at Rs 6000-8600 a quintal. Soanf fell sharply by Rs 100 a quintal on selling pressure coupled with slack demand.

New tamarind of Palghat and Jagdalpur ruled firm at Rs 1350-1400 a quintal despite inflow of about 800 bags of new tamarind in Jagdalpur while old tamarind of Ranchi and Calcutta tumbled down by Rs 50-100 at Rs 1000-1300 a quintal.