The Hindu Business Line : Urad, tur futures gain

Pulses witnessed a mixed trading pattern on Wednesday on NCDEX with urad and tur futures gaining strength, while chana finished marginally low. Tur futures were up 3.04 per cent to Rs 2,166 per quintal on fears of lower production of 23 lakh tonnes against 25 lakh tonnes last year.

Urad for February delivery was marked up by 2.03 per cent at Rs 2,916 per quintal. "Urad was up by Rs 50 per quintal across Rajasthan and the southern States amidst good physical buying. The February contract on NCDEX could test Rs 2,971 levels. Investors could look at buying at dips," said a Kotak Commodity report. Chana futures fell 0.18 per cent to Rs 2,205 per quintal.

Castorseed firm

Castorseed futures closed firm by Rs 5.30 to Rs 370 per 20 kg as production is expected to by lower at 7.2 lakh tonnes against 9.1 lakh tonnes last year. Guarseed ended flat at previous closing of Rs 1,966 per quintal.

Reopening after 4 days Guntur markets saw good chilli arrivals. "There were 20,000 bags of chilli from the new crop. Traders were also selling about 10,000-15,000 bags from old crop as they expect the prices to fall further," said an analyst.

Sugar futures on NCDEX fell 0.93 per cent to Rs 1,606 per quintal on short covering by investors. Wheat prices were down a tad at Rs 1,022 per quintal on NCDEX. Opening on the higher side, jeera futures fell on later half by 0.90 per cent to Rs 9,130 per quintal on profit booking.

NCDEX registered a turnover of Rs 1,952 crore (Rs 2,419 crore, upto 11 p.m.) up to 5 pm on 69,330 (80,026) trades, while on MCX it was Rs 3,346 crore (Rs 10,416 crore, up to 11 p.m.) on 63,878 (1,81,072) trades. Active trades were high in among others guarseeds, chana, refined soy oil, pepper, tur desi and soya bean.