Crop futures posted gains Wednesday after Greece’s parliament passed austerity measures needed to get a bailout package from European neighbours and the International Monetary Fund.
July canola closed at $585.20 per tonne, up $1.70 and November at $568.70, up 60 cents.
With the Greek debt issue on the way to being addressed, investors appear to be in a mood to shift money from safe havens and into commodities.
Also, thoughts that the USDA will lower its seeded area figures for spring wheat and corn in Thursday’s acreage report supported the market.
On Tuesday a USDA official in North Dakota said as much as a quarter of North Dakota’s farm land, or 6.3 million acres, would not be seeded because of flooding and saturated fields.
Spring wheat futures posted a second day of strong advances.
Traders also keenly await Thursday’s USDA stocks report to see if high prices in May and early June hurt demand for grain.
A strong rise in the Canadian dollar limited the rally in canola.
Slower farmer deliveries supported the nearby canola contract, which gained more than new crop months.
Total canola open interest dropped under 150,000 on Tuesday for first time since Sept. 10, 2010, with funds’ net position near even.
Oil seeds are supported by rising palm oil prices as buying in Islamic countries ahead of the Ramadan festival lifts that market.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Jul 11 $585.20, up $1.70
Canola Nov 11 $568.70, up $0.60
Canola Jan 12 $575.40, up $0.40
Canola Mar 12 $579.80, unchanged
The previous day’s best basis widened to $18.53 under the July contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The July contract’s 14-day Relative Strength Index was 54. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.
Western Barley Jul 11 $207, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans Jul 11 $13.3425, up 3.5 cents
Soybeans Aug 11 $13.275, up 3.0
Soybeans Nov 11 $13.23, up 4.0
Corn Jul 11 $6.98, up 15.0
Corn Dec 11 $6.505, down 2.5
Oats Jul 11 $3.445, up 5.0
Oats Dec 11 $3.58, up 6.0
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $8.76, up 37.0 cents
Spring Wheat Sep 11 $8.495, up 16.5
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $8.4825, up 13.25
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose $1.88 cents to $94.77 US per barrel. A weekly report on U.S. crude and gasoline stocks showed a larger than expected drawdown.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0304 US, up from $1.0182 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 97.05 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index unofficially closed up 83.96 points, or 0.64 percent, at 13,188.94.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 10.75 points, or 0.83 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,307.42.
