The pepper market on Friday gained on buying support amid tight supply with all the active contracts moving up moderately in limited activities.
Turnover dropped by 50 per cent from the previous day. Bull operators were aggressive in further cornering short position holders.
Apprehension
Genuine hedgers who were buying spot from physical market and selling on the exchange platform are in a fear psychosis following reports that the regulator and the ministry were watching the market movements closely.
There were apprehensions among the genuine hedgers that from the statements of the FMC and the Minister sounded like a possibility of closing down of the futures trading in pepper, market sources told
The market was highly volatile with August and September futures moving up and down. About 70 per cent of the turnover was in August while in September it was 29 per cent.
On the spot, 16 tonnes of pepper were traded at Rs 407, Rs 410 and Rs 412 a kg depending upon the quality, bulk density and the area of production.
August contract on the NCDEX increased by Rs 280 to the last traded price (LTP) of Rs 43,870 a quintal. September and October increased /decreased by Rs 210 and Rs 220 respectively to the LTP of Rs 44,200 and Rs 44,545 a quintal.
Turnover
Total turnover decreased by 3,375 tonnes to close at 3,362 tonnes.. Total open interest increased by196 tonnes to end at 7,664 tonnes.
August open interest moved up by 16 tonnes to close at 5,228 tonnes while September and October increased by175 tonnes and 2 tonnes respectively to close at 2,325 tonnes and 101 tonnes.
Spot prices increased by Rs 200 to close at Rs 40,700 (ungarbled) and Rs 42,200 (garbled) a quintal in tandem with the futures market.
Indian parity in the international market remained at $8,100 a tonne (c&f) for Europe and $8,400 a tonne (c&f) for the US and continued to remained totally outpriced.