The Hindu Business Line : Urad futures plunge 6 pc; cardamom gains

Commodity futures trading on the national exchanges remained range-bound as traders liquidated their positions on the eve of contract expiry. With few exceptions, most of the agricultural commodities on NCDEX and MCX ended the day lower.

Urad January contract, which enters compulsory delivery mode on Friday, hit the lower circuit of 6 per cent at Rs 2,911 a quintal, while February contract followed suit, losing 2 per cent at Rs 2,857 per quintal.

Tur rules firm

Opening on a firm note, tur futures saw liquidation of long positions post mid-session on NCDEX. January futures closed lower by 3.5 per cent at Rs 1,900 a quintal, while February contract finished 0.83 per cent down at Rs 2,149 a quintal. Desi tur moved up by Rs 25-50 a quintal at Napgur, Akola and Khamgaon markets of Maharashtra following good demand from traders and stockists coupled with bullish futures trend.

As per the NCDEX warehouses data, tur stocks as on January 17 were 3,410 tonnes, while the open interest for NCDEX January contract was around 2,000 tonnes. The chances of delivery for January contract on NCDEX are expected to be higher.

Guarseed lower

Guarseed on NCDEX closed lower by 0.56 per cent at Rs 1,956 per quintal while sugar ended 0.64 per cent down at Rs 1,552 per quintal. Maize for February delivery gave in by 1.29 per cent to Rs 765 per quintal.

Strong cardamom spot market helped futures on MCX gain 2.73 per cent to Rs 423.70 per kg. Reopening after three days, cardamom, on the spot market, gained Rs 10 to Rs 393 per kg.

NCDEX registered a turnover of Rs 2,263 crore (Rs 2,312 crore, up to 11 p.m.) up to 5 pm on 75,530 (75,210) trades while on MCX it was Rs 3,441 crore (Rs 11,136 crore, upto 11 p.m.) on 65,977 (1,88,748) trades.