A forecast for rain in the dry U.S. hard red winter wheat belt pressured wheat futures lower on Wednesday, which pushed oilseeds and corn lower.
Volume was light as traders are mostly on the sidelines, waiting for significant information to trade on. The USDA’s prospective planting report will come out March 31.
Light rain and snow are expected in the western areas of Oklahoma and Kansas in the next few days in amounts of three to 13 millimetres.
The U.S. weather service has forecast that drought could spread in the hard red winter wheat area this spring. For the area currently in drought see the U.S. Drought Monitor at http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html.
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Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
The drought is covered in the Markets section of the March 24 Western Producer. Other market stories in the paper include poor offshore demand for low quality lentils and a breakthrough in trade with China that could increase the amount of pulses going to that Asian giant.
There was still no confirmation on Wednesday of the rumoured large sales of U.S. corn to China.
The Canadian Wheat Board will release a Pool Return Outlook on Thursday.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola May 11 $573.00, down $4.40
Canola Jul 11 $581.30, down $3.90
Canola Nov 11 $560.60, down $3.20
Canola Jan 12 $566.00, down $3.00
The previous day’s best basis widened to $16.63 under the May contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The May contract 14down day Relative Strength Index was 49. 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 $13.5125, down 14.25 cents
Soybeans Jul 11 $13.61, down 14 cents
Soybeans Nov 11 $13.3325, down 10.75 cents
Corn May 11 $6.81, down 5.75 cents
Corn Dec 11 $6.0975, down 2.5 cents
Oats May 11 $3.395, down 2.5 cents
Oats Jul 11 $3.48, down 2.25cents
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat May 11 $8.59, down 7 cents
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $8.6825, down 6.75 cents
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $8.8475, down 8.0 cents
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose 78 cents to $105.75 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0182 US, down from $1.0238 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 98.21 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index rose 87.18 points, or 0.62 percent, to 14,087.18.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 3.77 points or 0.29 percent to 1,297.54. A U.S. report showed new home sales at a record low in February, indicating the lingering malaise in the housing industry in the U.S.
