Mumbai - Heavy speculative selling and profit-booking pulled red chilli futures down once again during the first session of the week on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange [NCDEX] Monday. Black pepper and turmeric futures also crumbled whereas jeera was trading mixed on the domestic exchange. All the spices had accumulated sharp gains during the weekend following lifting of 'extra margin' by the NCDEX from futures trade.

Traders and speculators resorted to profit-booking after the weekend's sharp rise in red chilli futures. Red chilli slipped into the negative zone once again and was trading sharply down on the NCDEX Monday. At 10.36 am IST, February-08 red chilli contract dropped Rs 64 to trade at Rs 3800/quintal with a volume of 290 tonnes. March-08 contract drowned Rs 66 to trade at Rs 3655/quintal with a volume of 65 tonnes.

Black pepper futures too were suffering from profit-booking and were trading lower on the exchange. At 10.35 am IST, January-08 black pepper futures dipped Rs 63 to trade at Rs 13,601/quintal. Benchmark February-08 contract was trading down Rs 81 at Rs 13,921/quintal. Volume in Jan-08 and Feb-08 contracts was 460 tonnes and 942 tonnes respectively.

At the spot market Saturday, black pepper jumped further by another Rs 200/quintal at the main market Kochi. The decision to lift extra margin in black pepper futures has came as a big boost to the prices. Ungarbled pepper traded at Rs 12,800/quintal at Kochi spot while MG-1 grade was quoted at Rs 13,400/quintal. Traders say, the importers from US and Europe are in vacation mood for Christmas, and their enquiries will start next month.

Turmeric futures reversed the weekend gains and were trading weaker on the exchange Monday. At 10.36 am IST, April-08 turmeric contract shed Rs 13 to trade at Rs 2839/quintal with a total volume of 5500 tonnes. Benchmark May-08 futures were trading down Rs 11 at Rs 2887/quintal with a volume of 1250 tonnes.

Spot turmeric traded higher at main market Sangli Saturday. Erode, Warangal and Duggirala markets are closed for weekend holiday. Spot prices have been surging since last few days on reports that the next turmeric crop will be 30% less than the estimates. Turmeric prices in the new season are likely to open at Rs 3000/quintal.

Jeera futures started the session to a mixed trend Monday, after noting gains in an aggressive manner during the previous session. At 10.36 am IST, January-08 jeera futures were trading down Rs six at Rs 10,460/quintal. Benchmark February-08 futures rose Rs eight to trade at Rs 10,727/quintal. Volume for Jan-08 and Feb-08 contracts was 387 and 789 tonnes respectively.

The surge in futures market prompted a recovery of 100/quintal in spot jeera prices at the main market Unjha in Gujarat and Jodhpur in Rajasthan Saturday. Jeera was trading higher on reports that extra margin has been lifted from futures. Traders and importers from Singapore are in vacation mood for Christmas and are likely to start enquiries next month.