Rumours that China bought as much as 500,000 tonnes of U.S. corn helped to spark a rally the drove corn and canola up the daily limit for most of Thursday.
Wheat also showed strong gains after weekly export reports showed good corn and wheat sales. The recent slide in prices has attracted bargain buying.
U.S. soybeans sales were down from the previous week, but the generally more optimistic feeling in the market lifted the oilseed. Another support was excessive rain in parts of Brazil that is deteriorating the quality of the crop in affected areas.
The nuclear crisis in Japan remains a major concern in markets, but the situation did not deteriorate significantly during the day. Officials of the G7 leading industrial countries met by phone to discuss the Japanese situation and try to ensure that measure are taken to minimize the impact on the world economy.
Investors were less panicked and bargain hunting in stock markets helped push North American equities higher. Also several reports released today measuring aspects of the U.S. economy indicated continuing recovery.
The Canadian Wheat Board today said the Japanese earthquake appears to not have damaged the country’s flour mills. The CWB is trying to speed loading of vessels to ship food and feed grain to Japan. Viterra said Wednesday it was delivering grain to southern ports in Japan.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola May 11 $562.10, up $28.20
Canola Jul 11 $570.50, up $28.30
Canola Nov 11 $550.50, up $27.50
Canola Jan 12 $555.80, up $27.80
The previous day’s best basis narrowed to $6.33 under the May contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The May contract 14-day Relative Strength Index was 45. 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, down $5.
Deferred months were steady
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans May 11 $13.3525, up 48.25 cents
Soybeans Jul 11 $13.435, up 48.25 cents
Soybeans Nov 11 $13.0225, up 51.5 cents
Corn May 11 $6.465, up 30 cents
Corn Jul 11 $6.5375, up 30 cents
Oats May 11 $3.35, up 20 cents
Oats Jul 11 $3.4325, up 20 cents
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat May 11 $8.5475, up 48.75 cents
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $8.6525, up 50 cents
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $8.78, up 48.5 cents
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose $3.44 to $101.42 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0116 US, up from $1.0083 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 98.85 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index rose 221.33 points, or 1.6 percent, to 13,746.15.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 14.40 points, or 1.15 percent, to 1,271.28.
