The American Thanksgiving holiday led to a slow day of trade in canola futures, which ended higher.
Chicago markets were closed.
Support came from expectations that Chicago soybeans would climb on Friday and on stronger palm oil and crude oil futures.
Argentina’s Rosario grain exchange estimated the size of its soybean crop at 49.5 million tonnes, down from last year’s 54.5 million.
It is an early estimate. Only about half of the crop has been seeded so far, but La Nina is preventing rainfall and some areas are dry.
The main exchange at Buenos Aires has not yet posted a crop size forecast.
Rosario also forecast the corn crop at 21 to 22 million tonnes, slightly less than last year’s 22.4 million tonnes despite larger seeded area.
The government’s early forecast is for 52 million tonnes of soybeans and 26 million tonnes of corn.
In Winnipeg, the January canola contract rose $2.90 to $539.50 per tonne on 4,892 trades.
The March contract rose $2.80 to $544.60 on 4,029 trades.
The November 2011 contract was steady at $498.
The previous day’s best basis narrowed to $21.13 under the January contract.
The January contract 14 day Relative Strength Index was 53. The rule of thumb is an RSI of 30 indicates an over sold market and 70 indicates an over bought market.
December barley futures rose $5 to $185 per tonne. March was unchanged at $185.
Chicago markets were closed.
In New York, crude oil for January delivery was trading in the afternoon at $84.18 US per barrel, up 32 cents from the previous day’s close.
The Canadian dollar at noon was 99.18 cents US, up from 98.93 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was $1.0083.
The TSX composite index rose 43.82 points to close at 12,945.81.
Mary MacArthur, the Western Producer’s Camrose bureau reporter, is in India gathering stories. See her blog about her travels at www.producer.com.
