India guar futures lower on steady acreage

MUMBAI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Indian guar futures were trading lower on Wednesday as after data showed steady acreage in top producer Rajasthan, negating assumptions by traders that erratic rains may have dragged acreage considerably, analysts said.

Rajasthan guar acreage stood at 1.648 million hectares as of August 4, a tad lower from 1.654 million hectares the same time last year, an official with the state's farm department told Reuters on Tuesday.

The state accounts for about 70 percent of the country's guar output. Late rains were seen supporting the pick-up in acreage, the official said.

Analysts, however expect short-covering and export demand to support the futures later in the day.

The most-active September futures NGUU8 lost more than 9 percent till Monday, and rose marginally in the previous session.

At 10:28 a.m, September futures were at 1,837 rupees per 100 kg, down 0.33 percent, on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange.

(Reporting by Sourav Mishra; editing by Sunil Nair)