By Phil Franz-Warkentin and Jade Markus, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 11 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were down on Friday, backing away from Thursday’s gains as speculators returned to the sell side ahead of the weekend.
Canola posted large gains over the past week, but was looking overdone to the upside, according to traders accounting for Friday’s softer tone.
Strength in the Canadian dollar was also bearish, as it cut into crush margins and made exports less attractive to international buyers.
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However, gains in Chicago soyoil and other world vegetable oil markets made up for the activity in the Canadian dollar, helping underpin the futures.
The nearby technical bias has also shifted to the upside, after prices broke above former resistance on Thursday. The C$460 per tonne level had represented nearby resistance in the May ahead of the March 10 rally above that point, but that level held as support on Friday.
About 16,467 canola contracts were traded on Friday, which compares with Thursday when 20,928 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for about 9,608 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed four to six cents per bushel stronger on Friday, propped up by rain in the US Delta.
The region has seen showers over the course of the week, and with more in the forecast, soybean seeding could be postponed.
Farmer selling in South America has been slow as—of-late, market watchers say, which further supported prices.
Investor short-covering was also a feature ahead of the weekend.
SOYOIL prices settled higher on Friday, tracking Malaysian palm oil.
SOYMEAL closed stronger on Friday, following nearby grain and oilseed markets.
CORN futures closed one to three cents per bushel higher on Friday, supported by gains in crude oil futures.
Higher crude prices make it more appealing to blend corn into ethanol, which is bullish.
Strong demand for corn further supported prices on Friday, market watchers say.
Corn sales for the week ended March 3 were up seven per cent from the previous week and 37 per cent from the prior four-week average, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Rain in the US Delta added to the bullish tone.
WHEAT closed about one to two cents per bushel weaker on Friday, as the market ran out of steam.
Wheat prices had gained in the previous six sessions, but market watchers say the rally was cut short by heavy global supplies.
– Tunisia has bought 100,000 tonnes of milling wheat, according to reports.
– Kazakhstan’s grain exports since the start of the marketing year are up from 4.572 million the previous year, as of March 10, market watchers say.
