India chana seen higher on bargain-hunting

MUMBAI Jan 14 (Reuters) - India's chana futures are likely to edge higher on Thursday on bargain-buying driven by firmness in kharif pulses, though increasing arrivals and a rise in acreage may restrict the gains, analysts said.

The February contract had fallen about 16 percent since hitting a high of 2,896 rupees on Nov. 6.

India's chana acreage as on Jan. 7 stood at 8.438 million hectares, compared with 8.1 million hectares the same period a year ago.

The benchmark February futures contract NCHG0 on the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange ended slightly up by 1.89 percent at 2,478 rupees per 100 kg in the previous session.

GUAR:

Indian guar futures are expected to open higher on lower-level buying spurred by lower output estimates and thin arrivals, analysts said.

The most traded February contract NGUG0 has fallen over 8 percent since the beginning of the month till Jan 13.

The February guar seed contract on the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange ended at 2,586 rupees per 100 kg, up 1.49 percent in the previous session.

On NCDEX accredited warehouses stock of guar seed rose by 69 tonnes to 30,367 tonnes as on Jan. 12, data on the exchange website showed.

Lower area and poor yields due to patchy rains are estimated to have cut guar seed output by over 80 percent to 241,000 tonnes in top producer Rajasthan in 2009/10.

(Reporting by Meenakshi Sharma; Editing by Ramya Venugopal)