Groundnut oil moved down by Rs 5 to Rs 425 per 10 kg. Lack of buying interest coupled with steady new crop supplies mainly influenced the downtrend, dealers said. In Rajkot prices quoted lower by Rs 10 at Rs 640/645 per 15 kg.

Imported palm oil slid by a rupee to Rs 344 per 10 kg owing to lack of fresh buying interest. In the global market prices fell to $660 per tonne for nearby delivery and to $657.50 for long delivery, it was learnt.

Castor oil moved up by Rs 5 to Rs 392/406 per 10 kg on fresh demand from shippers. Castorseed ready shot up by Rs 14 at Rs 1,780/1,786 per quintal in sympathy.

In the futures section castorseed March delivery looked up from Rs 1,454 to Rs 1,465 before closing at Rs 1,457 per quintal on renewed covering by bears. There was no trading reported in the maturing December delivery.

In Ahmedabad February delivery climbed to Rs 1505 and in Rajkotit was placed at Rs 1,509 per quintal. In Gujarat region castorseed ready delivery moved to Rs 335 per 20 kg while castor oil at Rs 375 per 10 kg, it was gathered.

Wheat improves further

Medium quality wheat price firmed up afresh under the lead of milling variety on the grains market.

Reserved selling in view of higher producing centre advices pushed up the price of milling wheat further from Rs 790-795 to Rs 810-815 a quintal. North Gujarat wheat also hardened by Rs 20 to 25. Sonkalyan were placed at Rs 815-825, Tukadi at Rs 825-850, Lokvan at Rs 840-860 and 496 at Rs 850-875.

Ganganagar wheat was traded at Rs 865-875. Other wheat were well-held at earlier levels. Saurashtra Lokvan were quoted at Rs 850-900 and SW at Rs 875-1000. MP 147 and Sarbati were placed at Rs 850-900 and at Rs 900-1300 respectively.

Rice were dull-to-subdued on slack demand. Gujarat-17 were down to Rs 1600-1750 from Rs 1600-1800. AP Kattar at Rs 1000-1100, Perimal Punjab at Rs 850-1000 and superior at Rs 1200-1300were unchanged.

Among pulses, white peas Canadian ready were on offer at Rs 925 and January shipments at Rs 901. Green peas USA ruled at Rs 1600 and Canadian at Rs 940-950.

Gold softens

Gold softened further on the bullion market here today. Silver however ruled quiet in a narrow band and limited trading.

Standard gold fell by Rs 20 to Rs 4,280 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat was down by same margin at Rs 3,960 per 10 gm. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm) closed Rs 200 lower at Rs 50,200 per piece. Seasonal enquiries remained sluggish than expected and weak overseas advices also attributed to setback.

In the international market gold slid to $290.35 before closing at $291.15 per ounce.

Silver .999 maintained at Rs 7,280 per kg. In the ready section silver .916 finished Rs 5 lower at Rs 7,150 per kg. Industrial demand was thin but scattered arrivals and steady global advices kept the local market static. In the overseas market silver ruled steady at $4.79 per ounce.

Cotton turnscheaper

A dull-to-easy condition was in evidence on the cotton market.

In Punjab zone, Bengal deshi met with increased offerings. Punjab quotations slipped by Rs 20 to 25 a maund at Rs 1500-1540 spot, as a result. Likewise, Haryana at Rs 1525-1530 lost Rs 10 while Rajasthan turned cheaper by Rs 15 at Rs 1535-1555.

J-34 ruled ruled more or less unchanged. Saw-ginned good average Punjab were placed at Rs 1680-1800, Haryana at Rs 1710-1755 and Rajasthan at Rs 1685-1715. Respective rates for cart selected materials were 1800-1940, Rs 1785-1810 and Rs 1725-1775. Roller-ginned J-34 were on offer in the range of Rs 1600-1670. Arrivals consisted of 3000 bales of Bengal deshi and 9000 bales of J-34.

Other cottons ruled steady. Sanker medium were quoted at Rs 18,000-19,000 and superior at Rs 19,500-20,300 a candy. V-797 ruled at Rs 16,000-16,300. MP Y-1 were placed at Rs 17,400-17,800.

Future contracts also had very little activity. February and April ruled at Rs 4863 and at Rs 4942 respectivelythroughout the session.

Yarn quiet

A very quiet condition prevailed on the yarn market on extremely sluggish demand.

In polyester yarn business passing shrunk further as bearish conditions in fabrics cut down the operations in Bhiwandi powerlooms to 50 per cent as against 40 per cent. The trade sources predict further reduction of 15 to 20 per cent as the Ramzan starts. The quotations continued to languish at the low level. Grey first quality of medium sized units, 80dn rotoset were on offer at Rs 79, micro rotoset at Rs 85, weft at Rs 75 and warp at Rs 82-85 a kg. 80/1000dn and 80/1400 were placed at Rs 115-116 and at Rs 124-125.

150dn price eased by Re 1 to Rs 2. Weft and warp were mentioned at Rs 61-62 and at Rs 71-72 respectively. 150dn single roto had changed hands at Rs 64. Double roto were placed at Rs 66.

Sugar firms up

Sugar price firmed up following restricted supply.

The market had earlier witnessed good buying support and quick lifting in both ex-octroi checkpost and intenders in anticipation of hike in the import duty. This has created slight supply crunch for the current fortnight causing a rise in values. Ex-octroi checkpost, M-30 at Rs 1470-1490 gained Rs 10 while S-30 were up by Rs 15 at Rs 1450-1465. Ex-godown, M-30 were steady at Rs 1470-1525 while S-30 moved up from Rs 1445-1475 to Rs 1460-1475.

Both tenders and delivery orders of the mills for the current fortnight were over, averred trade sources.