In New Delhi, prices moved in a restricted range on the grains and pulses market on small bouts of buying and selling and closed unchanged. Marketmen said arrival and offtake was low and volume of business was small. However, wheat was down by Rs.5 at Rs.615-765 per quintal on fresh arrivals.

The following were today's quotations per quintal: grains: wheat deshi 620-770, wheat (MP) 1000-1040, wheat dara 570-580, chakki atta (Ashoka 90 kgs) 585, roller mill atta (Ashoka brand) (90 kgs) 565, maida (Ashoka) 625-630, sooji (ashoka 670-690, rice basmati (Lal Mahal) 5500, rice basmati (Lal Qilla) 5300, rice basmati common 3425-4050, I.R.8-725-750 permal 825-975, permal sela 815-965, kabli gram 1750-2200, pea white 975-1025, peas green 1100-1200, bajra 310-380, jowar 400-425, maize 420-450, barley 455-500, gowar white 1350-1500 and reshmi lobhia 1900-2100.

Gur prices up

In Muzzaffar Nagar, barring a rise in prices of laddo medium due to fresh demand on theprimary gur (jaggery) market today, other commodities closed on steady note due to sporadic buying. Laddo medium superior end rose marginally by Rs 10 to close at Rs 1140-1150 per quintal. Gur prices in the Delhi-wholesale market remained unchanged on restricted activity.

Sugar steady to firmer

In Mumbai, steady to firmer conditions prevailed at the Vashi wholesale sugar market today. Sugar small quality (S-30) ended steadier while sugar medium quality showed a wide range closing at Rs 1476/1515 per quintal. Following were today's rates per quintal. (previous rates in brackets). Small sugar quality S-30 Rs 1453/1470 (Rs 1452/1470) and medium sugar quality M-70 Rs 1476/1515 (Rs 1480/1505).

Iran buys white sugar

Iran bought one cargo of white sugar for August shipment, European traders said on Thursday. Further details of the purchase, following a tender on Wednesday, were not immediately available. Iran's last reported purchase of whites was on April 28 when it bought 20,000 tonnes,including 14,000 tonnes of European Union sugar at $245 a tonne fob. The remainder was of South African origin.

Malaysian palm oil firm

Malaysian palm oil market was mostly firmer on the back of a weak ringgit. Trading was rather uncertain with some profit-taking and selling appearing after a steady opening due to gains in soyaoil. The immediate trend would still depend on currency movements, developments in Indonesia and soyaoil direction. In palm oil physicals, refiners' buying was seen in crudepalm oil with selected interest noted in products.

Metals prices decline

In Mumbai, prices declined moderately in all copper grades and nickel on the non-ferrous metals market today following a reactionary trend on the London Metals Exchange (LME) and in the absence of support from industrial units, traders said. Copper prices finished with a loss of 25 to 50 paise per kg while nickel prices softened by two rupees per kg. Following were today's rates per kilo. (previous rates in brackets):Copper scrap heavy Rs 115.00 (Rs 115.50), copper wire bar Rs 132.00 (Rs 132.00), copper utensils Rs 103.25 (Rs 103.50), brass scrap Rs 89.00 (Rs 89.25), brass sheets cutting Rs 92.75 (Rs 93.00), aluminium scrap Rs 64.50 (Rs 64.50), aluminium ingots Rs 83.00 (Rs 83.00), zinc Rs 78.00 (Rs 78.25), lead Rs 43.50 (Rs 43.50), tin Rs 380.00 (Rs 380.00) and nickel Rs 292.00 (Rs 294.00).

LME copper to remain dull

Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) are expected to extend losses in the short term on the prevailing gloomy outlook for Asian demand, traders said on Thursday. But they said Japan's new economic measures and consumer buying would help limit the downward potential by providing support to the market, which on Wednesday hit $1,595 a tonne, its lowest level in 11 years. "Copper prices are to maintain the current downside trend on slowing demand in Asia," said a metal broker in Seoul.

Another trader said some short covering and fresh buying from Japan and Australia was seen early onThursday in Asian trade. LME three-month copper rose to $1,612/17 at 0600 GMT, against Wednesday's London afternoon kerb close of $1,602/03. The trader pegged resistance for copper prices at $1,660 a tonne, while support at $1,600 and then $1,550.

Maharashtra cotton varieties up

In Coimbatore, prices of all Maharashtra varieties registered a marginal increase ranging from Rs.57 to Rs.155 while Shankar-6 and V-797 (both Gujarat) declined at the South India Cotton Association today. (prices per quintal and in Rs): Bengal deshi fine (Pjb) 4447, Wagad (Guj) 4246, V-797 (Guj) 4640, Jayadhar (Ktk) 4682, J-34 (Pjb) 5358, F-414 (TN) N Q, LRA-5166 (T N) 5539, H-4 (M P) 5708, LK-29 (A P) 6215, Shankar-6 (Guj) 6186, MCU (A P) 6889, DCH-32 (Ktk) 8492. Group-1 Maharashtra varieties: Mech-1 yeotmal/Amravati 5990, H-4 yeotmal/Amravati 5990, LRA-5166 Nagpur/yeotmal 5680, NHH-44 yeotmal/Amravati 5441, AK.H-4/AK.235 5343, 1007 yeotmal/Amravati 5343, AHH-468 yeotmal/Amravati 5343.

Menthol prices up

In NewDelhi, menthol prices rose on the chemical market today on limited trading activity while prices of other items remained unchanged. Menthol bold crystal (1 kg), menthol flake (1 kg) and menthol oil (1 kg) rose by Rs 50, Rs.5 and Rs.5 to settle at Rs.535 , Rs.490 and Rs.360 from the previous level of Rs.485, Rs.485 and Rs.355 respectively. The volume of business was small.

Asian naphtha slightly up

In Singapore, naphtha prices ticked up on crude, while gasoline prices dropped on weak demand and aggressive offers, further narrowing the naphtha/mogas spread, traders said on Thursday. The naphtha/95-octane spread narrowed by 10 cents per barrel to $4.20 per barrel, they said. Traders said gasoline prices fell on renewed bearish sentiment after the realisation that shortfalls caused by recent catalytic cracker outages would not tighten supplies as hoped.

Singapore fuel oil stable

Singapore fuel oil prices remained stable on Thursday despite a lack of apparent buying interest, as the marketwas looking for a clearer direction on prices, traders said. "Prices are stable, there's very little movement today,"said one trader. "It's very quiet today, people are just watching the market and waiting to see what direction crude will take," said another trader. The Singapore free-on-board (fob) market saw three offers emerge for second half July barrels, the lowest offer being $69 per tonne. No bids came out to counter the sellers. But traders said they saw the fuel oil fundamentals as balanced, as available supplies were fairly limited to meet the lacklustre demand. "On the supply side, there isn't a lot of Middle East supplies coming in apart from possible Iranian straight-run material," said a trader.

Latvian oil reloadings stable

Key Latvian oil terminal Ventspils Nafta said on Thursday that it reloaded a total 1.5 million tonnes of crude and oil products, unchanged from May, although the amount of diesel going through the Port slid. The company said in a statement it handled 1.24 milliontonnes of crude oil in June, compared with 1.1 million tonnes in May. Diesel reloadings slid to 150,100 tonnes from 330,600 tonnes. It said that the rise in crude oil reloadings, coming despite a slump in the world oil market, was due to its lowering its handling fees in April to five dollars a tonne from $5.5. The slide in diesel handling was due to the fact that Russian diesel prices were falling on the world market.

North Sea crude edges up

North Sea crude differentials inched upwards on Thursday, but a surge in trade this week was expected to be limited by token US Involvement ahead of a long weekend marking Independence Day, traders said. A third decade July Statfjord was heard trading at Dated Brent -40 cents, five cents up from the last published deal. "These are still weak prices but we shouldn't knock the fact that it is improving," said one trader. There was no Brent talk, with one main buyer in the past couple of days apparently out of the market because of the US holidays.