A strong loonie pressured Winnipeg canola futures lower Tuesday.
The loonie rose after the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged but noted the Canadian economy is performing better than expected, perhaps setting the stage for interest rate hikes later this year.
March canola futures Tuesday fell 50 cents to $384 per tonne on 188 trades. The March contract is in delivery mode.
The most active May contract fell 50 cents to $386.10 on 5,991 trades. The previous day’s best basis widened to -$7.75 per tonne off the May contract, according to the Winnipeg ICE Futures daily report.
New crop November fell $2.10 to $397.50 per tonne on 1,269 trades.
The Canadian dollar at noon Tuesday was 96.84 cents US, up from 95.96 cents at noon the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0326 Cdn.
The lightly traded Winnipeg March barley contract dropped $5 to $138 per tonne with no trades. May fell $5 to $142 on 22 trades. A strong loonie makes it easier to import U.S. corn.
March soybeans rose 1.75 cents to $9.5425 US per bushel. November soybeans fell 3.75 cents to $9.3875 per bu.
March oats settled at $2.215 per bu., up one cent.
Light crude oil in New York for April delivery settled at $79.68 per barrel, up 98 cents from the previous close.
Oil World increased its forecast of Argentina’s soybean crop to 52 million tonnes, up one million from its January forecast and up 20 million tonnes from last year’s drought-reduced crop.
