Canola fell a little on Friday while U.S. crop futures closed mostly lower after being higher early in the day.
The early gains in the U.S. were propelled by short covering, where traders buy back positions that they had previously sold at higher prices.
But crops eventually succumbed to the negativity brought on by U.S. employment news that hammered most markets. U.S. employers created only 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year and less than half the expected amount. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent.
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That pressured the U.S. dollar lower against currencies such as the yen and euro on speculation that the weak economy would force the central bank to take more monetary easing measures.
Crop futures generally did better than other markets. The debt crisis in the euro zone and weaker economic growth in China and India also depressed markets.
July canola closed at $609.70, down $3.10.
November closed at $563.70, down $3.60.
Compared to the close on the previous Friday, July canola was down 0.4 percent and November was down 0.56 percent. The weaker loonie helped support canola. American crop prices fell harder over the week.
July corn was down 4.5 percent for the week. Nearby soybeans fell about three percent, CBOT wheat was down 9.7 percent and MGEX futures fell 5.9 percent.
Wheat was pressured by the harvest of U.S. winter wheat and improving soil moisture in Russia and eastern Australia.
• Saskatchewan Agriculture said 74 percent of the province’s crop was in the ground as of May 29, ahead of the five-year average of 70 percent. The five-year average includes 2010 and 2011 when progress was severely limited by wet springs. The five-year average in 2009 to May 25 was 76 percent.
• Farmers will hope that light thunder showers expected this weekend hold off to allow them to make progress before a major wet front moves across the Prairies next week starting in Alberta on Monday and spreading to Sasktchewan and Manitoba by Tuesday and continuing Wednesday and Thursday. The Weather Channel For Lethbridge forecasts 45 to 65 millimetres total Monday and Tuesday with more than 10 mm on Wednesday.
• The pace of canola crushing is slowing. The Canadian Oilseed Processors Association said members crushed 102,134 tonnes of canola in the week ending May 30. That was down 17 percent from the previous week and represented a crush capacity use of only about 61 percent.
Winnipeg (per tonne)
Canola Jul 12 $609.70, down $3.10 -0.51%
Canola Nov 12 $563.70, down $3.60 -0.63%
Canola Jan 13 $568.50, down $3.00 -0.52%
Canola Mar 13 $571.90, down $2.40 -0.42%
The best basis in the par region on the previous day was $14 over the July canola contract, said ICE Futures Canada.
The 14-day relative strength index fell to 48 percent.
Western Barley Jul 12 $237.00, unchanged
Western Barley Oct 12 $210.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Oct 12 $257.70, unchanged
Milling Wheat Dec 12 $265.00, unchanged
Milling Wheat Mar 13 $274.00, unchanged
Durum Wheat Oct 12 $275.60, unchanged
Durum Wheat Dec 12 $280.10, unchanged
Durum Wheat Mar 13 $286.70, unchanged
Barley Oct 12 $180.00, unchanged
Barley Dec 12 $183.50, unchanged
Barley Mar 13 $186.50, unchanged
Chicago (per bushel)
Soybeans (P) Jul 12 $13.4425, up 4.25 cents +0.32%
Soybeans (P) Aug 12 $13.185, down 4.25 -0.32%
Soybeans (P) Sep 12 $12.855, down 8.25 -0.64%
Soybeans (P) Nov 12 $12.58, down 12.25 -0.96%
Corn (P) Jul 12 $5.515, down 3.75 -0.68%
Corn (P) Sep 12 $5.1475, down 10.75 -2.05%
Corn (P) Dec 12 $5.10, down 12.0 -2.30%
Oats (P) Jul 12 $2.85, up 4.25 +1.51%
Oats (P) Sep 12 $2.86, up 5.25 +1.87%
Oats (P) Dec 12 $2.81, unchanged
Minneapolis (per bushel)
Spring Wheat Jul 12 $7.395, down 13.25 cents -1.76%
Spring Wheat Sep 12 $7.41, down 12.0 -1.59%
Spring Wheat Dec 12 $7.5025, down 10.5 -1.38%
Nearby light crude oil in New York plunged $3.30 to $83.23 per barrel.
The Bank of Canada noon rate for the Canadian dollar was 96.34 cents US, down from 96.63 the day before.
The U.S. dollar was $1.0380 Cdn.
In early tallies:
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 152.12 points, or 1.3 percent, at 11,361.09.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 274.88 points, or 2.22 percent, to close at 12,118.57.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 32.29 points, or 2.46 percent, to finish at 1,278.04.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 79.86 points, or 2.82 percent, to close at 2,747.48.
For the week, the TSX fell 1.86 percent, the Dow was down 2.7 percent, the S&P 500 lost three percent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.2 percent.
