Wheat and rice prices ruled firm due to poor inflow from the neighbouring states. Maize, jowar and bajra recorded a gain of Rs 5-25 a quintal on good demand from cattlefeed units.

Edible oils remain dull

Mustard, linseed, etc rabi oilseeds crop are likely to suffer a setback due to untimely rains in most of the northern Indian parts, consequently, on stockists buying, edible oils prices in Mumbai and Gujarat started firming up. However, for fear of official raids, demand inedible oils, on the local market remained dull, consequently, groundnut and soyabean refined oils, on selling pressure revealed an easy tendency.

April delivery mustard oil in Rajasthan was quoted at Rs 3100 a quintal.

Sugar dips

Present rains was reported favourable for the standing cane crop, but mill delivery sugar prices dipped by Rs 2 to Rs 10 a quintal due to sluggish local as well as upcountry demand. Scattered demand in mill delivery sugar Mawana was reported at Rs 1450 and Gajroula at Rs 1343 a quintal while gur and khandsari prices ruled firm due to restricted supply from Uttar Pradesh.

Mumbai: Sugar improved slightly on unconfirmed reports of hike in the levy price.

The market was rife with the rumour that the government has hiked the levy price of sugar by 60 paise per kg. This boosted the sentiment and the market quotation looked up by Rs 5 a quintal. M-30 were placed at Rs 1425-1440 and S-30 at Rs 1400-1410 ex-octroi checkpost.

Delivery orders for M-30 and S-30 wereindicated at Rs 1380-1390 and at Rs 1355-1365 respectively in Kolhapur line, also up by Rs 5.

Yellow kishmish crashes

In the wake of bright prospects of grapes crop in Nasik, Sangli, etc areas of Maharashtra, Indian kishmish yellow crashed by Rs 200 at Rs 3000-3400 per 40 kg and imported kishmish Irani also ruled easy on higher import.

Pistachio Peshwari slipped by Rs 15 a kg due to weak demand at higher level.

Among spices, demand in zeera, dhania, soanf, etc spices remained poor on reports of clear weather conditions in Guajrat and Rajasthan. Inflow of black pepper, dry ginger, turmeric and red chillies in the south mandies was reported good. New tamarind of Jagdalpur was quoted at Rs 865 a quintal.

Silver slips

Both the precious metals, silver and gold, on the local bullion market, ruled easy on Thursday on weak overseas advices.

Gold in London in running dipped to $283.45 from $286.25 an ounce, consequently, gold biscuit dipped by Rs 30 at Rs 4330 and standard mint gold alsoplummeted by Rs 35 at Rs 4335 per 10 gram due to sluggish demand from local as well as upcountry buyers.

Gold sovereign, however, remained unchanged at Rs 3750-3775 per 8 gram.

New York silver future ruled easy at 510 cents an ounce and inflow of imported silver on Wednesday was only 3000 kg as a result, spot silver .999 fineness slipped by Rs 5 at Rs 7650 a kg due to weak upcountry demand.

Silver weekly delivery eased by Rs 5 at Rs 7630 a kg due to slack speculative support.

However, silver coins flared up by Rs 100 at Rs 10,500-10,700 per 100 pieces due to restricted arrivals from Uttar Pradesh.

Mumbai: Yellow metal declined sharply at the bullion market on Thursday due to fresh fall in the international prices. However, silver held steady on scattered support.

Standard gold fell by Rs 30 to close at Rs 4320 from the previous close of Rs 4350. 22-carat gold weas nominally quoted lower at Rs 3995 as against the last close of Rs 4025 and ten-tola gold bar (.999 purity) dropped sharply byRs 400 to end at Rs 50,600 from Wednesday's close of Rs. 51,000.

Ready silver (.999 fineness) at Rs 7700, raw silver (.916 fineness) at Rs 7590 and tenderable silver at Rs 7705 held steady at the previous close.

Mentha oil easy

In a quiet market, menthol section witnessed further erosion of prices due to falling support from consuming units and increasing stock locally. Mentha oil and menthol flake came down by Rs 3 at Rs 297 and Rs 397 per kg. Mentha bold held unchanged at Rs 425 per kg and thymol at Rs 260 a kg.

Resin red and yellow dipped by Rs 10 at Rs 480 and Rs 500 per 18 kg. In citric acid, caustic soda flakes, the market lacked in offtake due to rains.

Tin ingot falls further

Easy trend dominated non-ferrous metals market as stockists unloaded further. With consumers demand already weak, tin ingot fell further by Rs 5 at Rs 327 a kg. Lower trade enquiries impacted zinc dross, copper utensil, mixed scrap, copper wire bar, chadripital, brass sheet cutting, brass accessories,Bharat scrap, hony scrap and brass boring downward by 25 paise to Re one per kg.