Mumbai, July 15: Prices of castorseed futures shot up on heavy buying activity. Elsewhere, groundnut, linseed and palm oils also hardened on heavy offtake.

In the futures section, castorseed September contract started higher at Rs.1141 and rallied to Rs.1148. Later, it closed at Rs.1147.50, showing a significant rise of Rs.11 from the last close of Rs.1136.50.

In the edible section, groundnut oil improved by Rs.2 and closed at Rs.364 from Rs.362 on fresh local buying as against poor arrivals. Bullish advices from the producing centres also aided the sentiment. Palm oil closed better at Rs.260 from yesterday's mark of Rs.259 on restricted arrival.

In the industrial section, linseed oil attracted good demand from paint industries and rallied by Rs.5 to Rs.285 against Rs.280 yesterday. However, linseed bold, at Rs.1300 showed no change. Castor oil commercial at Rs.257.

Bullion Weak

Weak trend continued at the bullion market here today as prices of both silver and gold declined further on poor buying activity. Bearish overseas advices also dampened the market sentiment.

Silver ready of .999 fineness declined by Rs 45 and finished at Rs 6275 as against Rs 6320 yesterday. Raw silver .916 fineness and tenderable silver also dropped by a similar margin to close at Rs 6170 and Rs 6280 from the last close of Rs 6215 and Rs 6325 respectively.

Standard gold eased by Rs five and settled at Rs 4450 from Rs 4455. 22-carat gold was nominally quoted weak at Rs 4115 against Rs 4120, while ten tola gold bar of .999 purity lost Rs 100 to close at Rs 52,000 versus Rs 52,100 yesterday.

Copper bounces back

Copper prices bounced back while zinc climbed up on the local market today. Other base metals remained steady in a narrow price band.

Copper prices moved up by Rs 50 at Rs 13,650 per quintal on the back of a rally in the world market which triggered fresh buying support. Copper was down by Rs 50 yesterday after losing Rs 225 last week.

Zinc prices rose by Rs 50 at Rs 8,150 as the upsurge in the world market triggered speculative interest. "Zinc prices in the world market have gone up to their highest level in six years," one broker said.

Tin was steady at Rs 29,000 per quintal, as was nickel at Rs 33,800. Last week tin was down Rs 600 and nickel by Rs 500 per quintal.

Aluminium stayed at the previous level of Rs 7,700, as was lead at Rs 4,100 per quintal in nominal trade.

Overall volume remained slow during the day as major players kept to the sidelines, waiting for state-owned agencies to announce sale prices for the second half of the current month.

Sugar improves

Sugar prices rose following a drop in arrivals and aided by a fresh bout of consumer demand.

"Demand for sugar picked up today after it remained subdued in the last two-three days because of violence in the city," said a dealer.

"Arrivals of sugar still remained poor as several transport operators have not yet resumed services to Mumbai after the riots," the dealer said.

In ready delivery, sugar S-30 rose Rs 10/15 to Rs 1,480/1,500 per quintal and M-30 by Rs 10 to Rs 1,500/1,550. Sugar mill delivery was unquoted.

Delhi

Barring gram, an easy tendency was noticed on the Delhi grains and pulses market on Tuesday.

Daily arrival of wheat from the neighbouring states climbed upto 30,000 bags coupled with slack demand wheat dara, on the local market slided down by Rs 20 at Rs 520-525 a quintal. Roller flour mill atta, maida and suji further dipped by Rs 5-15 per bag of 90 kgs.

Rice sela permal and rice IR-8 slipped by Rs 10 a quintal because of weak demand from exporters. Due to favourable and rain low demand nferior urad, moong and moth tumbled down by Rs 20-75 a quintal and superior rajmash chitra was down by Rs 25 a quintal.

Gur higher

In the wake of weak upcountry demand, mill delivery sugar prices marked lower by Rs 3-10 a quintal, Scattered demand in mill delivery sugar Mawana was reported at Rs 1355, Agota at Rs 1295, Chandpur at Rs 1275 and Amroha and Bijnore was traded at Rs 1280 a quintal.

Despite weak Muzaffar Nagar advices, gur on the local market, went up by Rs 25 at Rs 1050-1100 a quintal amidst tight supply position because of rainy weather conditions.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.