Canola futures rose again Wednesday, propelled by the same factors that have supported it for some time, slower farmer selling and strong demand.
Farmers appear to have sold what they needed to off the combine and are now waiting as prices rise.
A weaker loonie also supported canola futures.
Soybeans also rose, supported by rising wheat futures that were lifted by concerns about dry conditions in the U.S. winter wheat crop. Dry weather has also hurt wheat in Western Australia and there are concerns about how much Russia will be able to produce next year, given the drought that lingered into autumn.
Minneapolis spring wheat gained 12.5 cents to $7.5825 per bushel.
In Winnipeg on Tuesday, November canola rose $3 per tonne to $530 on 4,953 trades.
The January contract rose $1.50 to $538.50 on 17,420 trades.
The previous day’s best basis narrowed to $17.13 per tonne under the November contract in the par region, according to the Winnipeg ICE Futures daily report.
We are changing our 14-day Relative Strength Index calculation to the one used by Reuters and others, which appears to be a more commonly used figure. November was 81. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.
December barley futures saw one trade, but the price was unchanged at $180 per tonne. March was unchanged at $185.
Chicago new crop November soybeans rose 4.75 cents to $12.2375 US per bushel. January rose five cent to $12.36.
December corn rose 6.25 cents to $5.7725 per bu.
December oats fell one cent to $3.70 per bu. March oats fell one cent to $3.82.
In New York, crude oil for December delivery fell 61 cents to $81.94 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 96.90 cents US, down from 97.82 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.032.
The U.S. dollar’s weakness in recent weeks, and strength in commodities, was tied to expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would pump money into the economy by buying government bonds, referred to as quantitative easing. But in the last few days, there has been uncertainty about how much and how quickly the Federal Reserve will spend and that has lifted the greenback.
The same factor caused the TSX composite index to fall 117.43 points to close at 12,567.25. The S&P 500 fell 3.19 points to close at 1,182.45.
