Old-crop corn futures rose strongly again on Friday but new crop climbed less and oilseeds were down.
Exceptionally tight old crop corn stocks kept May corn boiling hot, but Thursday’s seeded acreage report was not as bullish a factor for the new crop months.
Old crop May gained a total of 11 percent on Thursday and Friday and new crop December gained seven percent.
Canola and soybeans fell Friday on profit taking after Thursday’s gains and on talk that China had cancelled some soybean export orders. Canola was also pressured lower by a sharp increase in the Canadian dollar.
Prospects for record canola acreage this spring could dim again as a storm is expected to drop 15-25 centimetres of snow on areas south of the TransCanada Highway this weekend.
Over the week the week, nearby canola gained $9.60 per tonne or 1.65 percent.
The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 124,819 tonnes of canola in the week ending March 30, down 2.7 percent from the previous week. So far this year the crush stands at a little more than four million tonnes, up from 2.82 million at the same time last year.
Some parts of Kansas got light showers today and might get more moisture early next week. Today’s rain missed the driest areas in the west of the state there the wheat crop is suffering.
Tuesday morning could get down near the freezing point, but it was not expected to damage the winter wheat crop because it is still to early in its development.
It is starting to get a little dry again in China’s winter wheat region.
Dry areas of Germany could get rain this weekend.
Equity markets rose on good news on the U.S. jobs front.
The U.S. labour department said non-farm payrolls in March rose by 216,000 compared with economists’ estimates of a rise of 195,000.
The unemployment rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8 percent from 8.9 percent a month ago.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola May 11 $590.90, down $2.40
Canola Jul 11 $599.70, down $2.30
Canola Nov 11 $577.40, down $3.10
Canola Jan 12 $582.50, down $3.20
The previous day’s best basis was steady at $15.50 under the May contract according to ICE Futures Canada in Winnipeg.
The May contract’s Relative Strength Index was 56. 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 $13.9375, down 16.5 cents
Soybeans Jul 11 $14.0425, down 16.75 cents
Soybeans Nov 11 $13.8925, down 5.75 cents
Corn May 11 $7.36, up 42.75 cents
Corn Dec 11 $6.375, up 12.25 cents
Oats May 11 $3.75, up 7.75 cents
Oats Jul 11 $3.84, up 8 cents
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat May 11 $9.225, down 1.25 cents
Spring Wheat Jul 11 $9.305, down 1.5 cents
Spring Wheat Dec 11 $9.45, down 2.5 cents
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York rose $1.22 to $107.94 US per barrel.
The Canadian dollar at noon was $1.0385 US, up from $1.0290 the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was 96.29 cents Cdn.
The Toronto Stock Exchange composite index rose 14.05 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,130.15.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 6.58 points, or 0.50 percent, to 1,332.41.
For the week, the TSX composite rose 0.6 percent, the Dow was up 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.7 percent.
