Arrival of wheat on the local mandies improved to about 15,000 bags, but due to acute power shortage in the capital, demand from flour millers remained poor, consequently, wheat dara slipped by Rs 2 at Rs 523-528 a quintal and roller flour mill atta and maida were quoted lower by Rs 3-5 per bag due to tight money market conditions.

Common basmati rice declined by Rs 50 a quintal due to weak demand from exporters and rice permal was down by Rs 5-25 a quintal as Thailand was reported to have opened export of rice and sugar following resignation by the Indonesian President. On stockists selling, urad tumbled down by Rs 30-50 at Rs 1170-1275 a quintal and dal urad was down by Rs 25-50 a quintal. On profit-taking selling, gram marked down by Rs 15 a quintal.

Sugar declines further

Mill delivery sugar prices continued to rule easy because of weak demand from local aswell as upcountry bulk buyers because of easy availability of imported sugar in the market at cheaper rates. Scattered demand in mill delivery sugar Mawana was reported at Rs 1430, Agota at Rs 1367, Simbhauli, Modi and Daruralla was traded at Rs 1380 a quintal. Demand in gur remained dull because of rise in day temperature.

Cottonseed oil dips

Palmolein in Malaysia plunged to $710 from $715 a tonne and on normalisation of conditions in Indonesia, export of palm oil is expected to pick-up. Following weak demand from vanapsati and refining mills, no major change was recorded in edible oils prices. Cottonseed oil, however, dipped by Rs 20 at Rs 3880 a quintal in view of expansion in areas under cotton in Punjab, Rajasthan etc. NDDB procured on Thursday mustard oil at Rs 3720 a quintal.

Mumbai: Groundnut oil flared up in a steady firm oilseeds market here today. Castorseeds futures ruled buoyant.

Among edible oils, groundnut oil shot up sharply on brisk local demand as against poor stockistsofferings in the wake of stringent arrivals. Better upcountry advices aided the uptrend. Imported palm oil also rose sharply due to increased offtake as against poor supplies. Groundnuts ruled steady.

In the industrial sector, castorseeds and its oil firmed up on renewed enquiries from shippers and soap manufacturers. Linseeds and its oil ruled quiet.

In the futures market, castorseeds June opened higher at Rs 1275 on overnight buying. Later, prices advanced further on persistent bull support from leading operators and closed at Rs 1283, showing a smart rise of Rs 12 over the previous close of Rs 1271. Similarly, castorseeds September opened higher at Rs 1340 and surged up further to close at the day's best level of Rs 1343, with a gain of Rs 12 over the previous close of Rs 1331.

Groundnut oil flared up to Rs 419 from Rs 413. Palm oil shot up to Rs 383 from Rs 379. Groundnuts ready was steady at Rs 1970. Castor oil commercial firmed up to Rs 284 from Rs 282. Castorseeds ready Madras improved to Rs 1267from Rs 1258. Linseed oil at Rs 380 and linseeds ready at Rs 1400 were unaltered from the previous close.

Silver coins firm

On encouraging overseas advices, both the precious metals, on the Delhi bullion market showed signs of improvement on Friday.

New York silver future hovered around 532 cents an ounce and despite inflow of about 10,000 kgs. imported silver on Thursday, spot silver .999 recorded a gain of Rs 40 at Rs 7675 a kg. on zooming demand from local as well up country jewellers. Silver coins ruled firm at Rs 10200-10400 per 100 pieces amidst tight supply position. According to local Kucha Mahajani traders, transactions in silver weekly delivery are expected to start on Saturday and a meeting in this connection is being held on Friday.

Import of silver and gold turned dearer as Indian rupee turned weak against US dollar at Rs 40.90, consequently, gold biscuit and standard mint gold improved by Rs 5 at Rs 4215 and Rs 4225 per 10 gram respectively on strong demand from neighbouringstates. Arrival of gold was reported about 1000 kgs. Gold sovereign remained unchanged a Rs 3475-3500 per 8 gram.

Mumbai: Both the precious metals looked up moderately on the bullion market here on Friday. Silver improved on fresh industrial buying at lower levels while arrivals remained at a low ebb.

Silver ready .999 fineness firmed up by Rs 25 to Rs 7725 and tenderable silver by the same margin of Rs 25 to Rs 7730 from the previous close of Rs 7700 and Rs 7705 respectively. Raw silver .916 fineness improved by Rs 15 to Rs 7600 from the last close of Rs 7585.

Gold looked up afresh on seasonal demand and aided by poor stockists offerings. Standard gold hardened by Rs 15 to Rs 4165 from the last close of Rs 4150. 22-carat gold was nominally quoted higher at Rs 3855 from Rs 3840. Ten-tola gold bar .999 purity moved up by Rs 200 to Rs 48,900 from the previous close of Rs 48,700.

B. Twill lower

Following easy Calcutta advices coupled with poor sales, harapatta bardana, B. Twill (2 & 2,lbs) and A. Twill marked lower by Rs 25-50 per 100 bags. Old sugar bags slumped by Rs 50 at Rs 1800-2000 per 100 bags due to poor buying by khandsari and mustard fillers. Hessians were sluggish. Twines held steady.

Kalaunji crashes

On selling pressure of new crop goods in the market, Kalaunji crashed by Rs 200 at Rs 3600-4600 a quintal as demand from pickle manufacturers remained poor because of dismal mango crop prospects. As against this, red mace improved by Rs 25 at Rs 650 a kg due to short supply from Cochin. Assam tea looked up by Rs 3 at Rs 110 a kg on firm Siliguri advices. Among dry fruits, almond Afghani slided down by Rs 50-200 per 40 kgs. because of dull demand and copra Tiptur tumbled down by Rs 200 a quintal due to slack demand from local as well as upcountry buyers.