Canola climbs on speculative interest

Canola futures rose Thursday, supported by speculative interest and strong demand from domestic crushers.Chicago soybeans and soy oil rose on the weak U.S. dollar, which is expected to keep exports humming, and the strong soy crush.Profit taking weighed on corn and wheat futures.The Canadian Wheat Board said it has recommended to the federal government to increase initial payments on wheat durum and barley, reflecting the rise in world markets in the past few weeks.If approved, the increases could raise initials by a range of $50 to $70 per tonne, but the exact amount is up to the federal government.Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly crop report said 83 percent of the 2010 crop has been combined, 23 percentage points over last week. An additional 13 percent is swathed or ready to straight-combine. The five-year provincial average (2005-09) for this time of year is 89 percent combined. Harvest in the province is now ahead of last year’s pace when only 77 percent of the crop was in the bin.Strategie Grain’s first outlook for seeding of the 2010 crop in Europe says farmers will shift area into grain and away from canola. It expects canola planting will fall by about five percent.In Winnipeg, November canola rose $5.80 per tonne to $499 on 8,551 trades.The January contract rose $5.40 to $507.40 on 10,640 trades.The previous day’s best basis was $20 per tonne under the November contract in the par region, according to the Winnipeg ICE Futures daily report.The 14-day Relative Strength Index for November was 65 according to BarChart.com. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.October barley futures were unchanged at $174.50. December was unchanged at $180.Chicago new crop November soybeans rose 12 cents to $11.885 US per bushel. January rose 12 cents to $11.99.December oats fell four cents to $3.76 per bu. March oats fell 3.5 cents to $3.86.In New York, crude oil for November delivery fell 32 cents to $82.69 US per barrel.The Canadian dollar at noon was 99.64 cents US, little changed from 99.70 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0036 Cdn.The TSX composite index closed at 12,619.69, down 53.62 points. The S&P 500 fell 4.29 points to close at 1,173.81.Weekly data on U.S. employment was disappointing and the U.S. trade deficit was unexpectedly large, fueling concerns about a currency war over China’s policy of keeping the yuan undervalued. The rising number of U.S. home foreclosures was also a concern.

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