There was little new news to move the Winnipeg canola futures market on Friday.
A return to favourable weather this weekend was expected to allow canola harvest to resume.
Funds rolling short positions from the November contract into January was a major feature of trade.
Chicago soybeans closed a little lower in mostly directionless trade. The trend next week will depend on whether forecasts for a return to wet weather in the Midwest by Wednesday come true.
Soy oil was up a little, propelled in part by stronger palm oil prices and crude oil, which topped $78 US per barrel this week.
November canola settled at $387.30 per tonne, up $1.60 per tonne from Thursday on a volume of 6,819 contracts.
January closed at $391.30, up $1.70 on volume of 5,833 contacts.
The loonie weakened a little as the stock market retreated and Canada’s inflation rate fell, raising speculation that the Bank of Canada will not raise interest rates at its meeting next week.
At noon, one loonie was worth 96.26 cents US, down from 97.06 cents on Thursday.
The U.S. dollar was at 1.0389 Cdn on Friday, up from $1.0303 on Thursday.
The Canadian Oilseeds Processors Association reported that 65,494 tonnes of canola were crushed in the week to Oct. 14. Crushers were at only 63 percent of capacity compared to 88.9 percent last year. Contributing to the slower pace is the U.S. restriction on imports from some crushing plants because of problems with salmonella contamination.
