Grain and oilseed prices were little changed on Tuesday as traders await fresh news to trade on.
Trade volume was light.
Snow was falling over a large part of the Prairies on Tuesday, with the largest accumulations near the U.S. border. The heaviest snow is falling in North Dakota.
The snow forecast, which increased the prospect of spring seeding problems, supported canola futures on Monday, but today new crop futures are down slightly while old crop is slightly higher.
Chinese officials on Tuesday denied buying U.S. corn. Rumours of Chinese buying last week sparked a sharp price rally.
Crude oil rallies on worries over tensions in the Middle East and North Africa but it did little to rally U.S. crop futures.
For the second week, Oil World reduced its forecast of Brazil’s soybean crop because of problems with excess moisture. It now stands at 69-70 million tonnes, down from 70-71 the week before.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola May 11 $577.40, up 60 cents
Canola Jul 11 $585.20, up 30 cents
Canola Nov 11 $563.80, up 80 cents
Canola Jan 12 $569.00, up 70 cents
The previous day’s best basis widened to $16.13 under the May contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The May contract 14-day Relative Strength Index was 50. 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 unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans May 11 $13.655, up 2.5 cents
Soybeans Jul 11 $13.75, up 2.0 cents
Soybeans Nov 11 $13.44, down 1.0 cents
Corn May 11 $6.8675, up 0.25 cents
Corn Jul 11 $6.94, up 0.5 cents
Oats May 11 $3.42, down 8 cents
Oats Jul 11 $3.5025, down 8 cents
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat May 11 $8.66, down 3.25 cents
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $8.75, down 4.0 cents
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $8.9275, down 3.0 cents
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose $1.67 to $104 US per barrel on the conflict in Libya and unrest in the Middle East.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0238 US, up from $1.0231 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 97.68 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index fell 13.70 points, to about 14,000.00. Retail sales fell by 0.3 percent in January from December, dragged lower by weaker new-car sales, Statistics Canada said.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 3.58 points or 0.28 percent to 1,293.77.
