There was no inflow of imported silver since Tuesday and New York silver future slipped to 546 cents from 556 cents an ounce, as a result, spot silver .999, on stockists offerings, slumped by Rs 50 at Rs 8110 a kg. and silver weekly delivery, on unloading by the bulls, declined by Rs 40 at Rs 8065 a kg. Silver coins, however, remained unaltered at Rs 10,500-10,700 per 100 pieces.

Gold in London ruled easy at $297 an ounce and on inflow of about 400-500 kgs gold on Wednesday, gold biscuit and standard mint gold slipped by Rs 10 at Rs 4355 and Rs 4365 per 10 gram respectively. Gold sovereign, however, remained unchanged at previous close.

Mumbai: Both the precious metals ended with moderate losses at the bullion market here on Wednesday.

Silver ready .999 fineness declined by Rs 15 to Rs 8100 and tenderable silver by the same margin to Rs 8105 as against its last close of Rs 8115 and Rs 8120 respectively.Raw silver .916 fineness dropped by Rs 40 to Rs 7950 from the previous close of Rs 7990.

Standard gold moved down by Rs 10 to Rs 4290 from Rs 4300 previously. 22-carat gold was nominally quoted lower at Rs 3970 from the last close of Rs 3980. Ten-tola gold bar .999 purity slumped to Rs 50,550 from the previous close of Rs 50,700.

Moong spurts

Barring arhar, steady-to-firm conditions were witnessed on the Delhi grains and pulses market on Thursday.

On strong buying support from exporters, quality rice permal and sela permal, on the local market, firmed up by Rs 15 at Rs 1015 and Rs 1040 a quintal respectively. Wheat prices held steady as arrival was equal to demand. Gram prices revealed a firm tendency on better demand. Moong recorded a gain of Rs 25 a quintal on strong demand from dal millers despite inflow of about 1800 bags. Urad Rangoon edged up by Rs 10 at Rs 1355 a quintal due to restricted supply while arhar was down by Rs 25 at Rs 1950 a quintal because of buyers resistance at higherlevel.

Mill delivery sugar firm

Mill delivery sugar prices revealed a firm tendency because of higher prices quoted by the UP sugar millers. Demand in mill delivery sugar from upcountry parties remained sluggish. Scattered demand in mill delivery sugar Ram- Laxman was reported at Rs 1402, Modi at Rs 1435, Rampur at Rs 1420 and Sehora tax-paid at Rs 1472 a quintal. Pak sugar was quoted at Rs 1535 a quintal but demand at these rates remained dull.

Edible oils gain

Decision to reduce customs duty by 10 per cent on edible oils could not be taken up in Wednesday's cabinet committee meeting. Consequently, groundnut, mustard etc. major edible oils recorded a gain of Rs 20-30 a quintal.

Palmolein in Malaysia showed an improvement at $632.50 a tonne and palmolein in Mumbai ruled firm at Rs 3760 a quintal, as a result, offerings from the domestic producing states remained thin.

Almond slumps

On selling pressure from Kerala, nutmeg and mace slipped by Rs 5-15 a kg. and isabgol huskslipped by Rs 2-3 at Rs 80-82 a kg due to weak demand from exporters. Among dry fruits, almond Afghani slumped by Rs 50-100 per 40 kgs. and almond kernel California slipped by Rs 3 a kg. due to sluggish demand. Demand in cashew kernel was also reported poor.

Hoseiry yarn static

Hank yarn (2-4, 2-6 and 20 and 2-20) firmed up by Rs 2-5 per bundle on tight ready stock whereas due to slack demand, KSL (6) and (2-6) in cone yarn slipped by Rs 2-4 per bundle. Cone yarn Gulabpura (20) edged up by Rs 5 per bundle on declined inflow. In hosiery yarn, mostly counts were unchanged.

Mentha oil easy

Caustic soda flakes moved further lower by Rs 5 per bag on profit-taking sales by the stockists coupled with slack demand from consumers units, resulting in Rs 35-40 decline of prices in last three four days. Tri-sodium phosphate of Indian Rayrath slumped by Rs 50 at Rs 1100 per bag on poor demand from detergent powder makers. Mentha oil eased by Rs 5 per kg.

Copper utensils decline

Zinc slabdeclined further by 50 paise per kg as HZL reduced its sales prices for first fortnight of the current month by Re 1 per kg. Copper wire bar and rod were unchanged following HCL reducing sales prices by Rs 2.50 per kg. Copper utensils, mixed scrap and accessories slipped by 50 paise to Rs 1.50 per kg.

Chadripital and brass sheet cutting also moved lower by 50 paise to Re 1 per kg, on stockists unloading while the consumers units demand was quiet poor. Tin ingot and nickel plate slipped by Rs 2-5 at Rs 358 and Rs 276-338 per kg. In the current week, its prices here slumped by Rs 9-17 per kg.