Sanker hogged the limelight on increased buying inquiries and gained Rs 200 a candy. Average ruled at Rs 18,000-19,000 and superior at Rs 19,500-20,100 spot. V-797 were steady at Rs 16,000-16,300.

Punjab cottons were quoted higher by Rs 5 to 10 a maund. Bengal deshi roller-ginned ruled at Rs 1525-1575, J-34 saw-ginned good average at Rs 1685-1780 and cart selected at Rs 1720-1925. Arrivals comprised of 3500 bales of Bengal deshi and 10,000 bales of J-34.

Interest in futures remained at very low ebb. February contract ruled at Rs 4835 a quintal through out the session as against the previous closing of 4827.

Meanhwile, faced with accumulating stocks in the wake of poor demand the Maharashtra federation has announced sops for the buyers. Accordingly, on purchases of 2000 to below 5000 bales it has announced an "off" of Rs 100 a candy on the price. The "off" for 5000 to below 20,000 bales has been fixed at Rs200 and for above 20,000 bales at Rs 300. Besides, the lifting period has been modified to 45 days, 60 days and 90 days respectively as against the earlier of uniform 30 days, it was gathered. Its procurement so far has totalled around an equivalent of 4.50 lakh bales while the sales have been nigardly 3000 bales, said a trade source.

Silver moves up

Silver moved up further while gold was subdued on the bullion market here today.

Silver .999 edged up by Rs 5 to Rs 7,295 per kg. Silver .916 was up by Rs 15 to Rs 7,185 per kg. Industrial demand for silver however was thin but following tight supplies followed by lack of ready stock coupled with firm global advices kept prices firm.

Hardly 250/300 kg of silver was changed hands in the city market today. In the global market the white metal moved up from $4.78 to $4.84 per ounce.Standard gold remained unchanged at Rs 4,320 per 10 gm. so was gold .22 carat at Rs 3,995 per 10 gm. in sympathy. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm.) however finished Rs100 lower at Rs 50,600 per piece on light profit-taking. It was lower by Rs 300 on Tuesday. In the global market gold subdued at $293.40 per ounce against previous closing of $294.45.

Sugar subdued

A dull-to-subdued trend prevailed on the sugar market following lack of adequate buying support at earlier improved levels.

Shedding Rs 5 a quintal M-30 were placed at Rs 1465-1475 and S-30 at Rs 1440-1455 ex-octroi checkpost. Ex-godown, the price ruled at Rs 1475-1545 and at Rs 1460-1480 respectively in early deals.

In tenders also M-30 eased by Rs 10 and was indicated at Rs 1420-1425 and S-30 by Rs 5 at Rs 1395-1405 in Kolhapur line.

Yarn weak

A dull-to-easy condition continued on the yarn market following slack demand and tight liquidity situation.

In polyester yarn, extremely sluggish condition in the fabrics market and aggravated liquidity crunch continued to tell on the volume of business and the price.

Grey first quality of medium-sized units 80dn rotoset at Rs 78, microrotoset at Rs 85, weft at Rs 74 and warp at Rs 82-83 a kg were weak by a rupee. 80/1000dn at Rs 115-116 and 80/1400dn at Rs 124-125 were static.

150dn faired somewhat better on buying support. Weft and warp were quoted at Rs 62-63 and at Rs 72-73 respectively. 150dn single roto ruled at Rs 66-67 and double roto at Rs 69-70.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries (RIL) has cut the price of 80dn rotoset by Rs 3 a kg at Rs 83 on last Saturday, second time in the month. It has also simultaneously cut by a rupee the price of grey 150dn at Rs 66 for weft and at Rs 76 for warp.

G'nut oil spurts

Groundnut oil ruled firm on the oil,oilseeds market here today. Castorseed and its oil continued its uptrend in the ready delivery while forward market suffered losses.

Groundnut oil shot up by Rs 12 at Rs 440 per 10 kg on steady consumer buying, tight supplies and bullish upcountry advices. In Rajkot6 prices quoted at Rs 650/665 per 15 kg.

Imported palm oil edged up by Rs 2 to Rs 349 per 10 kg exlcusive of tax onpoor supplies and stray outstation demand. In the overseas market it was steady at the reduced level of $665 per tonne. Castor oil rose by Rs 8 to Rs 390/404 per 10 kg. Continued covering by shippers in the wake of renewed global enquiries attributed to the rise. Castorseed ready spurted by Rs 38 to Rs 1770/1776 per quintal.

In the futures section castorseed March delivery was initially placed higher from Rs 1,475 to Rs 1,493 but later on attracted selling and was closed lower at Rs 1,466 per quintal on bull liquidation at higher level. There was no trading in the maturing December delivery today.

In Ahmedabad February delivery placed at Rs 1,504.50 as against Rs 1,497 and in Rajkot it was quoted Rs 5 higher at Rs 1,502 per quintal. In Gujarat castorseed ready delivery quoted at Rs 330 per 20 kg despite higher supplies - 18000/20000 bags. Castor oil finished higher at Rs 375 per 10 kg.

Milling wheat gains

Milling wheat price firmed afresh on the grains market. Elsewhere, a quietly steady trendwas noticed.

Milling wheat price looked up by Rs 5 a quintal at Rs 770-775 following higher producing centre advices. Other wheat and rice ruled unchanged.Among imported pulses, green peas USA ruled at Rs 1600 and Canadian at Rs 990-1000.