After posting gains at the open, canola futures drifted lower on Monday and closed down.
The initial rally was supported by indications from the ProFarmer crop tour last week that the U.S. soybean crop will be smaller than the current USDA forecast, but with no more bullish news today to sustain the record high prices, the market drifted lower on profit taking.
Wild weather (rain, wind and hail) hit large parts of the Prairies this weekend. Created major harvest headaches with lodging and blown away swaths.
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November canola closed at $628.60, down $5.
The wider market is still awaiting signals from central banks about whether they will start new rounds of stimulus to spark lackluster economies to life.
Traders generally expect there will be new stimulus and if central banks do not act, it will likely push markets down.
After the close, the USDA reported on crop conditions.
The U.S. soybean crop slipped to 30 percent good-to-excellent, from 31 percent last week.
Corn also slipped on percentage point to 22 percent good to excellent from 23 percent.
USDA said 89 percent of the spring wheat crop is harvested, up from 79 percent last week and the five-year average of 57 percent.
Traders are watching the progress of tropical storm Isaac, which might make landfall on the Gulf coast as a category one hurricane. It will bring rain to the central and southern Midwest.
The moisture will help as farmers prepare to seed winter wheat, but most corn and soybeans are too far advanced to benefit although late seeded soybeans might get a little help.
Excellent rain in recent weeks has set Argentina up for a good seeding season.
Russian leaders will talk about the harvest there on Friday and will discuss whether there is a need for export restrictions.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Nov 12 $628.60, down $5.00 -0.79%
Canola Jan 13 $632.80, down $4.40 -0.69%
Canola Mar 13 $632.60, down $2.70 -0.42%
Canola May 13 $620.10, down $0.70 -0.11%
Milling Wheat Oct 12 $295.70, up $1.50 +0.51%
Milling Wheat Dec 12 $300.50, down $0.70 -0.23%
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $310.40, down $0.80 -0.26%
Durum Wheat Oct 12 $301.10, unchanged
Durum Wheat Dec 12 $305.60, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $312.20, unchanged
Barley Oct 12 $264.50, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $269.50, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $272.50, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans (P) Sep 12 $17.2975, down 7.75 cents -0.45%
Soybeans (P) Nov 12 $17.1875, down 12.75 -0.74%
Soybeans (P) Jan 13 $17.1125, down 13.0 -0.75%
Soybeans (P) Mar 13 $16.3025, down 6.0 -0.37%
Corn (P) Sep 12 $7.945, down 7.75 -0.97%
Corn (P) Dec 12 $8.0075, down 7.75 -0.96%
Corn (P) Mar 13 $8.015, down 7.0 -0.87%
Oats (P) Sep 12 $3.79, down 9.5 -2.45%
Oats (P) Dec 12 $3.87, down 4.5 -1.15%
Oats (P) Mar 13 $3.87, down 5.0 -1.28%
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Sep 12 $9.1275, down 5.75 cents -0.63%
Spring Wheat Dec 12 $9.2525, down 4.75 -0.51%
Spring Wheat Mar 13 $9.34, down 4.5 -0.48%
Spring Wheat May 13 $9.3725, down 8.0 -0.85%
The Bank of Canada noon hour rate for the loonie is $1.0109 US, up from 1.0081 on Friday.
The U.S. dollar is 98.92 cents Cdn.
Nearby crude oil futures in New York were down 68 cents to close at $95.47 per barrel.
In early tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 33.41 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 12,048.82.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33.22 points, or 0.25 percent, at 13,124.75.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.67 point, or 0.05 percent, to close at 1,410.46.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.40 points, or 0.11 percent, at 3,073.19.
