The Hindu Business Line : Chana futures down on weak spot market

Mumbai, Dec 20 Fear of jeera output being hit by the cloudy weather in parts of Gujarat boosted futures on NCDEX by 1.15 per cent to Rs 10,091 per quintal. “If the strong wind and cloudy weather, continues in Gujarat, particularly now when the harvest is nearing, may have an adverse impact on output,” said an analyst.

Soyabean futures rose 1.04 per cent to Rs 1,937 per quintal as investors tracked the local demand rather than taking price signal from the US. “International markets will be closed for a week on account of Christmas. Investors are banking on high domestic demand to drive prices,” said a trader. Soyameal prices in the Indore spot markets were high at Rs 14,500 per tonne.

Turmeric for April delivery was up 0.93 per cent to Rs 2,723 per quintal on short covering. “Traders do not want to give delivery on the exchange platform as the expect prices on the spot market to increase. The December contract expired at Rs 2,400 level while the spot prices were at Rs 2,450 per quintal,” an analyst said.

Short covering pushed up guarseed futures by 0.73 per cent to Rs 1,660 per quintal.

Large warehouse stocks coupled with expectations of new arrivals chilli futures down 1.43 per cent to Rs 2,721 per quintal. Maize futures, which remained range bound throughout the day, lost 0.47 per cent to Rs 748 per quintal on profit booking.

Weak spot market marked down chana futures 0.27 per cent to Rs 2,238 per quintal.

On MCX, mentha gained marginally, while potato lost 2.62 per cent to Rs 515 per quintal. In the Agra spot markets it fell by Rs 30 per quintal to Rs 340. MCX recorded a turnover of Rs 3,275 up to 5 pm while it was Rs 1,690 on NCDEX.