A major USDA Sept. 1 stocks report issued Wednesday came in fairly close to expectations and so crop futures prices did not make major moves.
Canola closed little changed at $476 a tonne, down 90 cents or 0.19 percent. The loonie edged higher and traders were reluctant to make changes ahead of Friday’s Statistics Canada crop production survey report.
The USDA also issued its annual Small Grains report and it pegged the U.S. wheat crop a little smaller than expected so that produced a small lift for wheat futures.
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Minneapolis spring wheat closed up 6.75 cents at US$5.27 a bushel or an increase of 1.3 percent.
Wheat rallied even as Russia decided to lower its wheat export tax. The tax had been designed to limit Russia’s exports so by weakening the tax it could lead to stronger competition from Russian wheat.
Also the European Commission raised its estimate of the soft wheat crop there by four million tonnes to 144.6 million.
The U.S. corn ending stocks number was slightly lower than traders expected but was still the largest supply since 2006.
U.S. soybean stocks were also slightly less than the average of trade expectations and USDA revised down the size of last year’s crop slightly. That helped November soybean futures to edge up about one percent today.
Warm dry weather in Canada and the U.S. Midwest is helping to rapidly advance the harvest.
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were down 14 cents to US$45.09 per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was US74.66 cents, up from 74.55 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was C$1.3394.
Bargain hunters were out in force today, driving stock prices higher. Traders were also encouraged by data showing Canada’s economy grew 0.3 percent in July, the second consecutive month of growth after contracting for the first five months of the year.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index gained 270 points, or 2.07 percent, to end the session at 13,306.96.
The index still fell four percent in September and 8.6 percent in the quarter, however, in its worst quarterly performance since 2011.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 235.57 points, or 1.47 percent, to 16,284.7, the S&P 500 gained 35.94 points, or 1.91 percent, to 1,920.03, and the Nasdaq Composite added 102.84 points, or 2.28 percent, to 4,620.17.
For the quarter, the Dow fell 7.6 percent, the S&P lost 6.9 percent and Nasdaq fell 7.4 percent. For September, the Dow fell 1.5 percent while the S&P dropped 2.6 percent and Nasdaq fell 3.3 percent.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola Nov 2015 476.00 -0.90 -0.19%
Canola Jan 2016 481.00 -0.90 -0.19%
Canola Mar 2016 483.10 -1.00 -0.21%
Canola May 2016 483.30 -1.10 -0.23%
Canola Jul 2016 482.70 -1.00 -0.21%
Milling Wheat Oct 2015 241.00 +2.00 +0.84%
Milling Wheat Dec 2015 245.00 +2.00 +0.82%
Milling Wheat Mar 2016 250.00 +2.00 +0.81%
Durum Wheat Oct 2015 345.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Dec 2015 345.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Mar 2016 350.00 unch 0.00%
Barley Oct 2015 190.00 +6.00 +3.26%
Barley Dec 2015 185.00 +1.00 +0.54%
Barley Mar 2016 187.00 +1.00 +0.54%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans Nov 2015 892 +7.75 +0.88%
Soybeans Jan 2016 894 +6.5 +0.73%
Soybeans Mar 2016 897.25 +6.5 +0.73%
Soybeans May 2016 899.75 +6.75 +0.76%
Soybeans Jul 2016 904.25 +6.75 +0.75%
Soybeans Aug 2016 903 +6.5 +0.73%
Soybean Meal Oct 2015 308.3 +2.6 +0.85%
Soybean Meal Dec 2015 309 +3.5 +1.15%
Soybean Meal Jan 2016 308.2 +3.8 +1.25%
Soybean Oil Oct 2015 27.1 -0.36 -1.31%
Soybean Oil Dec 2015 27.34 -0.35 -1.26%
Soybean Oil Jan 2016 27.66 -0.36 -1.28%
Corn Dec 2015 387.75 -1.25 -0.32%
Corn Mar 2016 398.75 -1 -0.25%
Corn May 2016 405.5 -1.25 -0.31%
Corn Jul 2016 410.75 -1 -0.24%
Corn Sep 2016 404 +0.25 +0.06%
Oats Dec 2015 226.75 +0.25 +0.11%
Oats Mar 2016 230 +0.5 +0.22%
Oats May 2016 234.25 +0.25 +0.11%
Oats Jul 2016 238.75 +0.5 +0.21%
Oats Sep 2016 238.75 +0.5 +0.21%
Wheat Dec 2015 512.75 +9 +1.79%
Wheat Mar 2016 519.5 +8.25 +1.61%
Wheat May 2016 524.25 +8.25 +1.60%
Wheat Jul 2016 527 +7.5 +1.44%
Wheat Sep 2016 535 +7.25 +1.37%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat Dec 2015 527 +6 +1.15%
Spring Wheat Mar 2016 540.75 +5.75 +1.07%
Spring Wheat May 2016 550.5 +5.5 +1.01%
Spring Wheat Jul 2016 560 +6.25 +1.13%
Spring Wheat Sep 2016 570.75 +8.5 +1.51%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2015 501.75 +7 +1.41%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2016 516.25 +6.75 +1.32%
Hard Red Wheat May 2016 526.25 +7 +1.35%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2016 536 +7 +1.32%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2016 550 +7 +1.29%