ICE Canada canola futures edged higher on Friday, halting a seven-session skid on support from a weakening Canadian dollar.

Canola’s slide began with a Dec. 6 Statistics Canada report that showed a much larger Canadian canola harvest than expected.

January canola added $1 to close at $495 per tonne.

Compared to the previous Friday, the contract fell $10.10 per tonne.

New crop November 2018 over the week lost $5.50 to close at $501.10.

Pressure on oilseeds this week has also come from a forecast for rain in dry areas of Argentina. Farmers there hope for widespread coverage to allow them to seed the final third of their soybean crop.

Brazil’s soybean crop is doing well.

Minneapolis spring wheat edged slightly higher while Kansas and Chicago were little changed.

Corn too was little changed.

There has been an uptick in U.S wheat sales this week, raising the hope that prices have fallen far enough to spark new demand and compete with Black Sea wheat.

CANOLA CRUSH

The crush was at 182,592 tonnes last week, down 7.2 percent from the week before. That represented a capacity use of just over 82 percent, down a little from the average this year of 85 percent.

The crush for the year is at 3.387 million tonnes, down about one percent from last year at the same time.

The week’s export data from the Canadian Grain Commission was in Thursday’s report.

OUTSIDE MARKETS

Signs that the U.S. Congress is closer to passing a tax cutting bill supported the American dollar and helped propel Wall Street to record highs

Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were up 26 cents at US$57.30 per barrel.

In the afternoon, the Canadian dollar was trading around US77.66 cents, down from 78.41 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar was C$1.2877.

The TSX rose, helped by a strong jump in auto parts maker Linamar Corp after it announced plans to buy MacDon, the farm equipment manufacturer.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 25.52 points, or 0.16 percent, at 16,041.98. It lost 0.3 percent over the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 142.49 points, or 0.58 percent, to 24,651.15, the S&P 500 gained 23.62 points, or 0.89 percent, to 2,675.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added 80.06 points, or 1.17 percent, to 6,936.58.

Over the week, the Dow rose 1.3 percent, th S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.4 percent.

Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne.

Canola Jan 18   495.00s   +1.00 +0.20%

Canola Mar 18   502.70s   +0.70   +0.14%

Canola May 18   510.70s   +1.30   +0.26%

Canola Jul 18   514.40s   +1.20   +0.23%

Canola Nov 18   501.10s   -0.40   -0.08%

American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound. Prices are displayed with fractions (2/8, 4/8, and 6/8) instead of decimals. -2 equals .25, -4 equals .50, -6 equals .75. The “s” means it is the settlement.

Chicago

Soybeans Jan 18   967-2s   -0-4   -0.05%

Soybeans Mar 18   978-0s   -0-6  -0.08%

Soybeans May 18   989-0s   -0-6   -0.08%

Soybeans Jul 18   999-0s   -0-4   -0.05%

Soybeans Aug 18   1001-0s   -0-2   -0.02%

Soybean Meal Jan 18   320.6s   -1.0   -0.31%

Soybean Meal Mar 18   324.5s   -1.1   -0.34%

Soybean Meal May 18   327.3s   -0.8   -0.24%

Soybean Oil Jan 18   33.16s   -0.02   -0.06%

Soybean Oil Mar 18   33.34s   -0.03   -0.09%

Soybean Oil May 18   33.49s   -0.03   -0.09%

Corn Mar 18   347-4s   -1-0   -0.29%

Corn May 18   355-6s   -1-0   -0.28%

Corn Jul 18   364-2s   -0-6   -0.21%

Corn Sep 18   371-2s   -0-6   -0.20%

Corn Dec 18   380-0s   -0-6   -0.20%

Oats Mar 18   254-2s   +2-4   +0.99%

Oats May 18   260-6s   +2-0   +0.77%

Oats Jul 18   268-4s   +2-2   +0.85%

Oats Sep 18   270-4s   +2-2   +0.84%

Oats Dec 18   264-4s   +2-2  +0.86%

Wheat Mar 18   418-2s   unch   unch

Wheat May 18   430-6s   unch   unch

Wheat Jul 18   444-0s   +0-4   +0.11%

Wheat Sep 18   457-4s   +0-2   +0.05%

Wheat Dec 18   475-2s   -0-2   -0.05%

Minneapolis

Spring Wheat Mar 18   620-0s   +3-0   +0.49%

Spring Wheat May 18   628-2s   +3-6   +0.60%

Spring Wheat Jul 18   631-6s   +3-0   +0.48%

Spring Wheat Sep 18   626-2s   +3-2   +0.52%

Spring Wheat Dec 18   636-0s   +2-2   +0.36%

Kansas City

Hard Red Wheat Mar 18   417-4s   -0-6   -0.18%

Hard Red Wheat May 18   430-2s   -1-0   -0.23%

Hard Red Wheat Jul 18   446-2s   -1-2   -0.28%

Hard Red Wheat Sep 18   461-0s   -1-4   -0.32%

Hard Red Wheat Dec 18   483-2s   -1-4   -0.31%

Chicago livestock futures in US¢/pound, Pit trade

Live Cattle Dec 17   118.900s   +2.625   +2.26%

Live Cattle Feb 18   121.025s   +1.875   +1.57%

Live Cattle Apr 18   122.150s   +1.850   +1.54%

Feeder Cattle Jan 18   147.750s   +1.500   +1.03%

Feeder Cattle Mar 18   145.550s   +1.200   +0.83%

Feeder Cattle Apr 18   145.925s   +1.225   +0.85%

Lean Hogs Feb 18   68.525s   +0.900   +1.33%

Lean Hogs Apr 18   72.800s   +0.550   +0.76%

Lean Hogs May 18   77.850s   +0.250   +0.32%