Canola futures rose Monday after a weekend storm dumped snow and rain over large parts of Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan.
The weather is delaying seeding and increasing the amount of land that will be too wet to seed.
Crusher demand also supported canola as crush margins improve.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 123,013 tonnes of canola in the week ending April 27, up 0.6 percent from the previous week.
Overnight and early morning trade was affected by news that the United States had found and killed Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader and mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Later, traders returned their focus to the weather.
Forecasts for drier weather in parts of the Midwest pressured corn lower. Seeding is delayed there too, with only 13 percent complete as of Sunday, off last year’s record pace of 66 percent complete and the five-year average of 40 percent. Analysts expected corn planting at 16 percent done.
There are still worries though because the northwestern and southeast parts of the Midwest are expected to have rain in the next couple of week.
Corn pulled wheat down. An industry tour of the U.S. hard red winter wheat area this week will provide detail to the outlook for reduced production due to drought.
Soybeans closed slightly lower after touching, but failing to go beyond $14, a technical resistance point.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola May 11 $566.00, up $5.00
Canola Jul 11 $569.00, up $1.60
Canola Nov 11 $565.20, up $1.60
Canola Jan 12 $572.20, up $1.20
The previous day’s best basis widened to $17.10 under the May contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The May contract’s 14-day Relative Strength Index was 46. 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 $200.00 unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans May 11 $13.9025, down 2.5 cents
Soybeans Jul 11 $13.93, down 1.0
Soybeans Nov 11 $13.7375, down 0.5
Corn May 11 $7.3075, down 23.25
Corn Dec 11 $6.6125, down 8.25
Oats May 11 $3.34, down 8.5
Oats Dec 11 $3.60, down 8.0
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat May 11 $9.50, up 4.75 cents
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $9.375 down 10.5
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $9.45, down 9.75
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York fell 41 cents to $113.52 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0535 US, down from $1.0542 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 94.92 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index was own 10.28 points, or 0.07 percent, at 13,934.51.
The Standard and Poor’s 500 index lost 2.39 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,361.22.
