Standard gold shot up by Rs 40 at Rs 4,400 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat was up by Rs 35 at Rs 4,070 per 10 gm. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm.) hardened by Rs 600 at Rs 51,600 per piece. Physical buying however was at a low ebb and traders reported speculative buying for gold amidst tight supplies, rally in dollar value and news of recovery in the global market. In the international market the yellow metal climbed from $275.90 to $278 per ounce.

Meanwhile silver .999 placed Rs 70 higher at Rs 7,920 per kg. Silver .916 hardened by Rs 80 at Rs 7,800 per kg in sympathy. Arrivals of imported silver remained virtually absent while traders reported supplies of 100/125 kg. of raw silver from local sources. Delhi was firm and in the overseas market the white metal was quiet at $5.04 per ounce.

G'nut oil reacts
Groundnut oil eased modestly on the oil,oilseeds market here today. Castorseed and its oil however recovered from the lower level on fresh overseas enquiries, dealers said. Groundnut oil closed a rupee lower at Rs 350 per 10 kg on low buying interest coupled with weak global advices. In Rajkot, prices remained subdued at Rs 610/615 per 15 kg, it was learnt.Imported palm oil eased to Rs 207 per 10 kg following prevailing easy global advices. In the overseas market palm oil dropped by $10 at $330 per tonne for the nearby delivery and $332.50/335 per tonne for the long delivery, it was gathered. Following reports that Union government had come out with an order of compulsory use of 50% domestic edible oil for manufacturing vanaspati also attributed to weak sentiment in the global market, according to dealers.

In the futures section castorseed June delivery placed Rs 10 higher at Rs 1,860 per quintal on light covering by bears at lower level. September delivery was quiet at Rs 1,921 per quintal amidst nominal trading.

In Ahmedabad castorseed June delivery recovered to Rs 1,794.50 and September delivery closed at Rs1,860 per quintal. Traders reported castorseed arrivals of 40000/45000 bags in Gujarat today.

Yarn listless
In listless trading, prices hovered around the previous day's levels on the yarn market.

Nylon yarn 15/1/0dn Shreelon remained on offer at Rs 291, Gujnil 20/1/0dn at Rs 285 and 111/24/0dn at Rs 170 a kg.

Viscose filament yarn bright cones first quality Century Rayon 150dn ruled at Rs 193, 120dn at Rs 205, 100dn at Rs 213, 75dn at Rs 253 and 120dn dull cone at Rs 210.

Grains steady
A quietly steady condition was in evidence on the grains market.

Rice Pakistan were traded at Rs 1,000-1,100 a quintal. Perimal Punjab medium ruled at Rs 1,000-1,200 and superior at Rs 1,250-1,300 and Gujarat-17 in the range of Rs 1,400-1,600.

Wheat arrivals continued to be restricted but the offtake too was thin. Wheat MP 147 were placed at Rs 950-1,100 and sarbati at Rs 1,000-1,500.Among pulses, green peas USA Rumba/Heart were placed at Rs 1,250, Canada at Rs 911-921 and White peas canada at Rs 920-925. Urad Myanmar were traded at Rs 2,225. Australian gram were transacted at Rs 1,375. Moong Myanmar medium and superior ruled at Rs 1,700-1,850 and at Rs 2,000-2,200 respectively.

Cotton looks upTight supply imparted fresh strength to the cotton values in Punjab zone. Quotations in Punjab and Haryana looked up by Rs 15 to 25 a mound while the gains in Rajasthan were of the order of Rs 5.

Punjab J-34 saw-ginned good average went upto Rs 1,755-1,875, cart selected to Rs 1,780-1,925. Bengal Deshi were up at Rs 1,150-1,200 a mound spot. V-797 were traded at Rs 12,800-13,400 and Sanker in the range of Rs 17,500-21,000 a candy.

Sugar unchanged
Generally steady trend prevailed on the sugar market. Except the easing of the rate of M-30 ex-octroi checkpost, the prices held the previous levels. In ex-godown prices, M-30 ruled at Rs 1,468-1,545 and S-30 at Rs 1,430-1,465. Ex-octroi checkpost prices for M-30 were at Rs 1,432-1,450 and Rs 1,410-1,435 for S-30. In tenders, M-30 were indicated at Rs 1,380-1,395 and S-30 at Rs 1,355-1,375 in Kolhapur line.

Delhi
Poppyseed slipped from Rs 68-76 to Rs 65-75 a kg due to higher output in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and Turkey poppyseed also slipped from Rs 72 to Rs 65 a kg. Chiraunji further fell by Rs 10-20 at Rs 180-225 a kg due to lack of buying by the stockists.

Betelnut, inferior kalaunji, zeera Ganesh, turmeric Erode finger and inferior quality, cardamom small colour robin prices remained subdued on Wednesday. Saffron Kashmiri nose-dived by Rs 3000 at Rs 33,000 a kg in view of off-season.