Groundnut oil shot up by Rs 6 to Rs 428 per 10 kg. Tight supplies followed by stray seasonal demand influenced the sentiment of the market. In Rajkot prices placed higher at Rs 650/655 per 15 kg.

Imported palm oil looked up by a rupee to Rs 347 per 10 kg. In the global market palm oil opened lower at $665 and closed at $667.50 per tonne.

Castor oil went up by Rs 6 to Rs 382/396 per 10 kg. Castorseed gained by Rs 29 to Rs 1732/1738 per quintal. Overseas enquiries for castor oil also attributed to the rise, dealers said.

In the futures section castorseed March delivery shot up from Ra 1,473 to Rs 1,492 but closed at Rs 1,475 per quintal. December delivery however remained absent from trading today.

In Ahmedabad February delivery placed higher at Rs 1497 and in Rajkot it was at Rs 1,493 per quintal. Hyderabad advices were encouraging.

Sugar price netted fresh gains as thesentiment was buoyed by reports about the tighter imports.

The reports that the government, besides levying import duty was also contemplating some kind of quantitative restriction on sugar imports boosted the sugar price by Rs 10 a quintal. M-30 were placed at Rs 1475-1550 and S-30 at Rs 1460-1480 ex-godown. Ex-octroi checkpsot, M-30 were traded at Rs 1470-1480 and S-30 at Rs 1445-1455.

In tenders also the price looked up as M-30 were indicated at Rs 1430-1440 and S-30 at Rs 1400-1410 in Kolhapur line.

Bullion ends higher

Firm trend witnessed on the bullion market here today.

Standard gold rose by Rs 20 to Rs 4,320 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat closed Rs 15 higher at Rs 3,995 per 10 gm. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm.) lifted by Rs 300 to Rs 50,700 per piece. Seasonal buying for gold continued while tight supplies and bullish global advices kept offerings limited. In the overseas market the yellow metal placed $2 higher at $294.45 per ounce.

Silver .999 finished Rs 10 higher at Rs 7,290 perkg. Silver .916 was up by Rs 10 to Rs 7,170 per kg in sympathy. Industrial demand for silver however was absent but traders reported speculative buying on account of restricted supplies followed by higher global advices. In the global market silver advanced to $4.81 before settling at $4.78 per ounce.

Cotton dull

A dull-to-easy condition continued on the cotton market in the wake of slack activity.

Erosion in values continued in Punjab zone as J-34 price lost Rs 10 a maund. Saw-ginned good average Punjab dipped to Rs 1680-1770, Haryana to Rs 1690-1735 and Rajasthan to Rs 1680-1705 spot. Cart seleced goods were quoted at Rs 1800-1925, at Rs 1765-1790 and at Rs 1715-1750 respectively. J-34 roller-ginned good average ruled in the range of Rs 1590-1640. Bengal deshi ruled steady as roller-ginned Punjab were placed at Rs 1520-1540, Haryana at Rs 1555-1560 and Rajasthan at Rs 1535-1550. Arrivals consisted of 2000 bales of Bengal deshi and 7000 of J-34.

Sanker in the range of Rs 17,700-19,500 andV-797 at Rs 16,000-16,300 a candy were quietly steady.

Grains unchanged

Trading continued to be a tame affair on the grains market and prices hovered around the previous day's levels on the grains market.

Selling pressure continued in imported pulses. Green peas USA were on offer at Rs 1600 a quintal. Canadian ready were placed at Rs 990-1000 while the goods ex-ship awaiting berth found sellers at Rs 950. White peas Canadian ready ruled at Rs 931-935 and January shipment at Rs 901.

Tur Myanmar 98 and 97 were traded at Rs 2050 and at Rs 2000 respectively. Kenyan tur were on offer at Rs 1950 and Tanzanian at Rs 2050. Urad Myanmar were placed at Rs 1575. Moong Mynamar were in demand at Rs 1800-1825 while Chinese moong fetched Rs 1900-1925. Australian gram were mentioned at Rs 1500-1550. Kabuli gram A-2 at Rs 3000-3100, B-2 at Rs 2700-2800, C-2 at Rs 2200-2300 and natural at Rs 2400-2500 were static.

Rajma chitra deshi and imported red were on offer at Rs 2500.

Among cereals, wheat millingruled at Rs 765-770 and rice Gujarat-17 in the range of Rs 1650-1800.

Yarn quiet

A quietly steady condition was in evidence on the yarn market following slack demand.

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

In the case of nylons Gujnil 20/1/0dn ruled at Rs 220, 30/1/0dn at Rs 290 and 111/24/0dn at Rs 157.