New crop canola futures rose on worries about wet fields and late seeding but nearby contracts fell on weak soybean futures.
Snow was falling in parts of Alberta on Thursday.
Most of the Prairies are expected to see some precipitation over the next few days, with larger amounts in southeast Saskatchewan and southwest Manitoba on Sunday.
Soybeans fell on disappointing weekly U.S. exports and the effect of newly harvested South American soybeans coming on the market.
On the other hand, corn exports beat expectations, showing strong demand despite near record prices. Japan was a major buyer after being absent for a couple of weeks.
New crop corn futures rose, but old crop slipped a little.
Wheat futures fell as the forecast for rain in the southern plains expanded to include more areas of the dry hard red winter wheat growing area. For maps of rainfall areas see http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/qpf2.shtml.
As the rain moves east, it will delay corn seeding.
Crop futures remain under pressure from Goldman Sachs’ recommendation to clients to reduce exposure to commodities.
WINNIPEG (PER TONNE)
Canola May 11 $570.30, down $2.20
Canola Jul 11 $579.10, down $2.10
Canola Nov 11 $571.50, up $1.20
Canola Jan 12 $578.30, up $1.20
The previous day’s best basis narrowed to $6.30 under the May contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The May contract’s Relative Strength Index was 44. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.
Western Barley May 11 $200 unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybean May 11 $13.31, down 2.5 cents
Soybean Jul 11 $13.4275, down 2.25 cents
Soybean Nov 11 $13.4525, down 6.25 cents
Corn May 11 $7.5425, down 1.25 cents
Corn Dec 11 $6.555, up 10.5 cents
Oats May 11 $3.82, down 4.75 cents
Oats Dec 11 $4.01, down 3.0 cents
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat May 11 $8.8975, down 14.25 cents
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $8.975 down 14.5 cents
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $9.1225, down 14.75 cents
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose $1 to $108.11 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0389 US, up from $1.0373 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 96.26 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index fell 11.84 points, or 0.09 percent, at 13,821.80.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.11 points, or 0.01 percent, to 1,314.52.
