By Jade Markus and Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, January 23 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola closed mixed, but mostly unchanged, on Monday.
Fund traders bought throughout the day, which underpinned values, but those investors moved to the sell side late in the session, causing values to move lower at the close.
Strength in the Canadian dollar against its US counterpart throughout the day on Monday also had a bearish effect on prices. A stronger loonie makes canola less appealing to international buyers.
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Recent advances in the canola market caused increased producer selling, market watchers say, which furthered the losses.
About 18,306 canola contracts traded on Monday, which compares with Friday when 23,860 contracts changed hands.
Spreading accounted for about 14,174 of the contracts traded.
Milling wheat, durum and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
Settlement prices are in Canadian dollars per metric tonne.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were down by two to ten cents per bushel on Monday, as improving South American production prospects weighed on values.
Forecasts call for drier conditions across most of the soybean growing regions of Argentina for the next week, which helped ease concerns over unseeded acres and reduced yields that had propped the soy market up in recent weeks.
Chart-based selling contributed to the declines, as values drifted below nearby support.
However, solid export demand helped underpin the market.
SOYOIL futures settled near unchanged on Monday.
SOYMEAL futures were down on Monday.
CORN futures in Chicago were narrowly mixed on Monday, settling within a half cent of unchanged.
The improving South American weather conditions were also bearish for corn, according to participants.
Declines in crude oil weighed on the ethanol-linked grain, although a weaker tone in the US dollar index provided some support.
WHEAT futures in Chicago were up by one to five cents per bushel on Monday. Kansas City futures were also higher, but the Minneapolis spring wheat market moved lower as positioning between the three contracts accounted for some of the day’s activity.
Conditions for the US winter wheat crop remain relatively favourable, keeping some pressure on values. A lack of significant export demand weighed on values as well.
