Groundnut oil maintained at Rs 365 per 10 kg as tight supplies matched withsluggish demand. In Rajkot it was quiet at Rs 595 per 15 kg.

Imported palm oil edged down by a rupee to Rs 211 per 10 kg. Weak overseasadvices prompted light selling among Indian importers. In the global marketpalm oil fell by $2.50 at $325 per tonne for the nearby delivery and at$327.50/330 for the long delivery, it was learnt.

Castor oil shot up by Rs 6 at Rs 380/392 per 10 kg. Castorseed readyhardened by Rs 30 at Rs 1,744/1,750 per quintal in sympathy. Today there wasno trading reported in castorseed March delivery. And trading in castorseedJune delivery will begin on Wednesday (today) as Forward Market Commission(FMC) has granted permission, floor sources said.

In the international castor oil future market, April delivery was quiet atRs 392 per 10 kg. In Ahmedabad castorseed April delivery closed at Rs 1,707and June delivery rose by Rs 4 at Rs 1,797 per quintal. Traders reportedarrivals of castorseed of 55000/60000 bags in Gujarat.

Bullion down
Both the precious metals ruled weak on the bullion market here today.

Standard gold fell by Rs 10 at Rs 4,570 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat was downby same margin at Rs 4,225 per 10 gm. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm.)fell by Rs 250 at Rs 53,350 per piece in the official deals while priceswere quoted at Rs 52,750 in the cash deals, dealers said.

Seasonal buyers kept away at the improved level. Brisk local supplies andweak trend in the global centers coupled with subdued trend in dollar valueagainst rupee triggered profit- taking in the local market. In the overseasmarket gold slid by 60 cents at $288.40 per ounce.

Meanwhile silver .999 slipped by Rs 40 at Rs 7,990 per kg. Silver .916 wasdown by Rs 35 at Rs 7,875 per kg in sympathy. Industrial demand was dull ashardly 100/125 kg of silver changed hands today in the local market. WeakDelhi and overseas advices as well as steady inflow of raw silver from localsources put pressure on the prices, dealers said. In the global market thewhite metal reacted from $5.09 to $5.06 per ounce.

Sugar declines
A weak trend, generally, continued on the sugar market following slackdemand.

M-30 price declined by Rs 10 at Rs 1490-1510 while S-30 shed Rs 5 at Rs1440-1460 a quintal ex-octroi checkpost. Ex-mill, M-30 were placed lower byRs 5 at Rs 1430-1450 while S-30 dipped from Rs 1400-1420 to Rs 1380-1410 inKolhapur line.

However, on restricted supply, ex-godown price of M-30 looked up from Rs1505-1576 to Rs 1520-1580. S-30 ruled steady at Rs 1460-1511.Imported sugarEEC-2 ruled static at Rs 1600.

Grains unchanged
A quietly steady trend prevailed on the grains market.Wheat MP 147 ruled atRs 900-1000 and Sarbati in the range of Rs 950-1300. New Wheat MP Lokvanwere on offer at Rs 875-900 and Maharashtra SRT at Rs 901-921.

Rice Perimal medium ruled at Rs 950-1150 while superior fetched Rs1250-1300. Pakistan rice were quoted at Rs 880-890 ex-dock and at Rs 911-950ex-godown.

Among pulses, green peas USA Rumba/Heart ruled at Rs 1350 and Canadian at Rs950. White peas Canadian found sellers at Rs 891-900. Urad Myanmar wereplaced at Rs 1900-1950. Australian gram were quoted at Rs 1300-1325. Rajmachitra deshi were mentioned at Rs 2000 while Chinese were traded at Rs1700-1800. Red rajma Myanmar ruled at Rs 1550-1600.

Punjab cottons up
Punjab cotton price firmed up further by Rs 10 to 20 a maund on buyingsupport. Other cottons ruled steady.

Arrivals in Punjab zone were comprised of 1000 bales of Bengal Deshi and7000 bales of J-34. Bengal Deshi roller-ginned Punjab ruled at Rs 1050-1100,Haryana at Rs 1095-1100 and Rajasthan at Rs 1060-1075 a maund spot. J-34saw-ginned good average Punjab were quoted at Rs 1620-1715, Haryana at Rs1610-1635 and Rajasthan at Rs 1570-1600. Cart selected fetched Rs 1670-1760,Rs 1645-1695 and Rs 1590-1645 respectively. Roller-ginned good averageRajasthan ruled at Rs 1500-1530.

V-797 were placed at Rs 12,600-12,800 a candy.Future contracts ended higherby about 62 points on buying support. April was settled at Rs 4565 and Juneat Rs 4675.

New York advice were better. March rose by 0.35 cents at 59.40 cents, May by0.26 at 61.32, July by 0.16 at 62.59 and October by 0.57 at 62.80 cents.

Yarn eases
An easy condition was noticed in polyesters on the yarn market.

Following low offtake, the price of polyester texturised yarn eased by Re 1to Rs 2 a kg. Grey first quality of medium-sized units 80dn roto fell by Rs2 at Rs 99-100. Other popular items shed Re 1 as weft found sellers at Rs95-96, 150dn weft at Rs 81-82 and single roto at Rs 85-86.