By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 23 – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were mostly lower at midday Wednesday, as the market reacted to conflicting outside factors.
Losses in CBOT soybeans and soyoil were a bearish influence, while Malaysian palm oil was also down overnight.
Chart-based selling contributed to the declines, as canola backed away from nearby support. An increase in farmer hedges was also noted by a broker.
On the other side, the Canadian dollar was down by nearly a full cent relative to its US counterpart. The softer currency is supportive for canola, as it helps boost crush margins and also makes exports more attractive for global buyers pricing in US dollars.
About 14,000 canola contracts had traded as of 10:39 CST.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were all untraded.
