November canola closed Friday at $516.50 per tonne. That was down $14.30 from the close last Friday of $530.80.
On the day, the November contract dipped $3.40, following soybean oil lower. It got little support from a rally in soybean prices that made crop futures the strongest commodity class on the day.
Old crop soybeans surged about 21 cents per bushel, supported by tight old crop stocks and slow farmer selling. The strength spilled over into new crop November soybeans, which rose more than eight cents.
The crop markets remained focused on weather. It has been dry over much of the Midwest the past couple of weeks, particularly in Iowa, the biggest corn and soybean producer, and a lot is riding on expected rain tomorrow and Sunday.
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There is speculation the corn and soybean condition ratings on Monday could fall again. However, if the rain falls as expected on the weekend that will be bearish. Also bearish is the expectation of cooler weather in the Midwest next week.
Corn has entered the crucial pollination phase of development, which dictates crop yield, so analysts are anxiously watching to see the combination of heat, moisture and condition that the Midwest crop experiences in the next three weeks.
Canadian prairie weather remains mostly favourable for crop development, with showers expected this weekend in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Canola also faced a slightly stronger Canadian dollar and technical pressure as the November contract fell below a support level of $520 yesterday.
Looking at long term charts, the next support levels seem to be at $500 a tonne, the low point of 2012 set in January and about $480, the low point of 2011 set in December.
Canola futures are faring worse than soybeans. Since the beginning of June, November canola has fallen about 9.7 percent while November soybeans have fallen about four percent.
Equity markets were relatively flat Friday, with a mixture of strongly rising and falling stocks. Tech stocks have been weak this week because of poor earnings and weak prospects, with Microsoft falling hard Friday with poor earnings and an apparently fading keystone product in its Windows program for desktop computers.
In commodities, great interest was shown in WTI crude rising above Brent prices, something that has not been a feature of markets in recent years.
Detroit city acknowledged it was insolvent, and Chicago announced huge cutbacks of civic employee benefits as its credit rating was slashed.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 2013 516.50 -3.40 -0.65%
Canola Jan 2014 522.40 -3.00 -0.57%
Canola Mar 2014 527.50 -2.40 -0.45%
Canola May 2014 528.50 -2.20 -0.41%
Canola Jul 2014 528.90 -2.10 -0.40%
Milling Wheat Oct 2013 265.00 unch 0.00%
Milling Wheat Dec 2013 269.00 unch 0.00%
Milling Wheat Mar 2014 276.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2013 302.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Dec 2013 307.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Mar 2014 312.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Oct 2013 194.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Dec 2013 199.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Mar 2014 199.00 unch 0.00%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans Aug 2013 1490.75 +21.5 +1.46%
Soybeans Sep 2013 1326 +9.75 +0.74%
Soybeans Nov 2013 1274 +8.25 +0.65%
Soybeans Jan 2014 1279.25 +8.25 +0.65%
Soybeans Mar 2014 1277.75 +9 +0.71%
Soybeans May 2014 1272 +8.25 +0.65%
Soybean Meal Aug 2013 482.4 +12 +2.55%
Soybean Meal Sep 2013 423.7 +6.6 +1.58%
Soybean Meal Oct 2013 387.3 +5.1 +1.33%
Soybean Oil Aug 2013 45.5 -0.02 -0.04%
Soybean Oil Sep 2013 45.47 -0.1 -0.22%
Soybean Oil Oct 2013 45.34 -0.1 -0.22%
Corn Sep 2013 544 +3 +0.55%
Corn Dec 2013 500.75 unch 0.00%
Corn Mar 2014 512.75 -0.25 -0.05%
Corn May 2014 520.5 -0.25 -0.05%
Corn Jul 2014 526.5 -0.5 -0.09%
Oats Sep 2013 355 +1.75 +0.50%
Oats Dec 2013 341 +0.25 +0.07%
Oats Mar 2014 346.5 -0.75 -0.22%
Oats May 2014 348.25 +0.75 +0.22%
Oats Jul 2014 357.75 +0.75 +0.21%
Wheat Sep 2013 664.5 +4 +0.61%
Wheat Dec 2013 675.25 +2.25 +0.33%
Wheat Mar 2014 685.5 +1.25 +0.18%
Wheat May 2014 692.5 +1 +0.14%
Wheat Jul 2014 690.5 +1.75 +0.25%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Sep 2013 750.5 +0.25 +0.03%
Spring Wheat Dec 2013 761.5 -0.5 -0.07%
Spring Wheat Mar 2014 774.25 -0.75 -0.10%
Spring Wheat May 2014 782 -1.75 -0.22%
Spring Wheat Jul 2014 786.75 -1.25 -0.16%
Kansas City
KCBT Red Wheat Sep 2013 705.25 +3 +0.43%
KCBT Red Wheat Dec 2013 717.5 +1.5 +0.21%
KCBT Red Wheat Mar 2014 727 +0.75 +0.10%
KCBT Red Wheat May 2014 732 +0.75 +0.10%
KCBT Red Wheat Jul 2014 728.25 +1.5 +0.21%
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose one cent at $108.05 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 96.50 cents US, up from 96.19 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0363 Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index rose 56.28 points, or 0.45 percent, at 12,685.13, after reaching 12,693.87, its highest level since May 31, earlier in the day.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 4.80 points, or 0.03 percent, at 15,543.74.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 2.72 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,692.09.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 23.66 points, or 0.66 percent, at 3,587.61.
For the week, the TSX composite was up 1.8 percent, its fourth gain in a row. The Dow rose 0.5 percent, the S&P added 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq fell 0.3 percent.
