Canola futures rose on Monday, supported by fund buying and stronger soybean prices.
Soybeans rose on short covering after Friday’s losses and on mounting concern about dry crops in Argentina.
Also, parts of southern Brazil have been dry enough to force farmers to reseed soybean crops that did not germinate.
Areas farther north have adequate moisture.
Trade in canola was light due to slow buying by crushers and exporters. However, crusher profit margins are still considered good.
In wheat, the market expected the U.S. winter wheat crop condition to decline in today’s report, but the good-to-excellent rating rose to 47 percent, up one percentage point from the week before. However, the rating was still the lowest in years for this time in the production cycle.
In Winnipeg, the January canola contract rose $6.20 to $535 per tonne on 6,298 trades.
The March contract rose $5.80 to $541 on 1,526 trades.
The November 2011 contract rose $3.10 to $494.60.
The previous day’s best basis was $27.13 under the January contract.
The January contract 14 day Relative Strength Index was 52. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.
December barley futures were unchanged at $180 per tonne. March was unchanged at $185.
Chicago January soybeans rose 20 cents to $12.215 US per bushel. March rose 19.75 cents to $12.2875.
December corn fell 5.5 cents to $5.1525 per bu.
December oats fell 2.25 cents to $3.51 per bu. March oats fell 2.25 cents to $3.6375.
In New York, crude oil for January delivery fell 24 cents to $81.74 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 98.16 cents US, up from 97.96 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0187.
The TSX composite index fell 27.62 points to close at 12,929.01. The S&P 500 fell 1.89 points to close at 1,197.84.
