Groundnut oil looked up from Rs 360 to Rs 365 per 10 kg amidst tight supplies, stray physical demand and expected hike in the import duty on edible oil by union government, according to market sources. In Rajkot prices quoted steady at Rs 660/615 per 15 kg.

Imported palm oil moved down from Rs 215 to Rs 212 per 10 kg on weak global advices. However, in the kerb trading prices looked up again to Rs 214/215 per 10 kg on strong rumour of hike in the import duty. In the overseas market on the other hand palm oil declined from Rs 320 to Rs 312.50 per tonne for nearby delivery, it was learnt.

Castor oil remained steady at Rs 365/377 per 10 kg. Castorseed ready quoted at Rs 1,675 per quintal. Fresh overseas enquiries halted selling at lower level. In the future section castorseed September delivery spurted from Rs 1,680 to Rs 1,695 before concluding at Rs 1,688 per quintal. Maturing June deliery remained untraded.

In Ahmedabad castorseed September delivery looked up from Rs 1,684 to Rs 1,691 per quintal. Castorseed spot prices remained unchanged at Rs 315/320 per 20 kg while castor oil placed at Rs 344/345 per 10 kg in Gujarat.

Gold ends higher
Gold and silver prices moved in both ways and closed firm on the bullion market here today.

Standard gold placed Rs 5 higher at Rs 4,510 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat was quiet at Rs 4,170. Prices of gold biscuit however hardened by Rs 150 at Rs 52,900 per piece. Physical demand was low but tight supplies, uptrend in dollar value and firm trend in global prices prompted speculative buying. Fresh offerings remained limited. In the global market gold moved up from $284 to $292 before reacting to $286 per ounce.

Meanwhile silver .999 ruled steady at Rs 7,970 per kg. Silver .916 was up by Rs 20 at Rs 7,850 per kg. amidst lower than expected inflow of raw silver from local sources, dealers said. Delhi was encouraging while in the global market the white metal shot up from $5.02 to $5.13 and closed the day at $5.06 per ounce.

Yarn steady
A steady condition was in evidence in VFY and nylons on the yarn market.VFY bright cones first quality Century Rayon 150dn ruled at Rs 193, 120dn at Rs 205, 100dn at Rs 213, 75dn at Rs 253 and 40dn at Rs 428 a kg. 120dn dull cones were on offer at Rs 208.

Nylon yarn Gujnil 20/1/0dn were quoted at Rs 285, 30/1/0dn at Rs 320 and 111/24/0dn at Rs 170, 15/1/0dn Shreelon were placed at Rs 290.

However, on good buying support, polyester yarn 80dn roto at Rs 90-91 and weft at Rs 86-87 were well held at the earlier improved levels.

Grains static
A quietly steady trend prevailed on the grains market. Activity was restricted.

Wheat milling were placed at Rs 720-745 a quintal. MP 147 were on offer at Rs 875-1,000 and Sarbati at Rs 1,000-1,400. MP Lokvan average found sellers at Rs 785-825 and superior at Rs 900-1,100. Rice SLO ruled at Rs 1,150-1,250.In the case of pulses, Australian gram were in demand at Rs 1,375-1,400.

Kabuli gram A-2 Mexican ruled at Rs 3,800, USA at Rs 3,500 and Canadian at Rs 3,300. B-2 Australian were quoted at Rs 3,100-3,200, Turkey/ Iran at Rs 2,900-3,000, C-2 in the range of Rs 2,200-2,600 and natural at Rs 2,800-2,900.

Cotton sluggish
A sluggish trend prevailed on the cotton market.

J-34 saw ginned good average Punjab was traded in the range of Rs 1,860-1,920 on spot. Cart selected Punjab ruled at Rs 1,900-1,970. Bengal deshi were traded at Rs 1,220-1,260.

V-797 were placed at Rs 13,500-14,000, Morabi Wagad were at Rs 13,300-13,400 and Sanker were trading in the range of Rs 18,000-21,000 a candy.

Sugar unchanged
A steady trend prevailed on the sugar market in modest deals.

M-30 ruled at Rs 1430-1490 and S-30 at Rs 1403-1435 a quintal ex-godown. Ex-octroi checkpost quotations were Rs 1420-1440 and Rs 1390-1405 respectively. In tenders, M-30 were indicated at Rs 1355-1370 and S-30 at Rs 1330-1350 in Kolhapur line.

Delhi
Both the precious metals, at the Delhi bullion market recorded a sharp rise on Wednesday on overseas advices.

Import being costly due to firm dollar in the forex and gold in London moved up from $284.25 to $288.50 an ounce followed by restricted offerings by the importers, gold biscuit and standard mint gold firmed up by Rs 40 at Rs 4570 and Rs 4580 per 10 gram, respectively. As compared to last Wednesday, prices recorded a sharp rise of Rs 100 per 10 gram.

Gold sovereign held steady at Rs 3825-3850 per 8 gram.

New York silver future improved from 503 cents to 506 cents an ounce coupled with inflow of about 4000 kg of imported silver on Tuesday, consequently, spot silver .999 fineness went up by Rs 40 at Rs 7830 a kg on zooming demand from industrial users. Silver weekly delivery recorded a gain of Rs 45 at Rs 7855 a kg on speculative buying.

Nickel plate rises
Despite easy LME, nickel plate of Inco (9x9 and 4x24) continued upsurge and each rose by Rs 3-7 at Rs 615 per kg as Delhi market had a shortage and traders resorted to mutual buying-selling. Brass accessories, Bharat scrap, huny scrap and copper wire scrap also firmed up by 50-75 paise per kg on Shahdra buying.

Zinc slab also firmed up by 25 paise per kg on mutual transactions among traders. On the other hand, due to slack offtake, aluminium rod and tin ingot eased by 50 paise to Re one per kg.

Other metals were unchanged.