By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 16 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were down sharply at midday Thursday, as a move below nearby support levels triggered heavy speculative selling.
“It’s in liquidation mode,” said a broker, noting that bearish chart signals were a primary driver in the canola market. Wednesday’s strength in the Canadian dollar was another bearish influence, although the currency was backing off of its nearby highs on Thursday.
A lack of buying interest on the other side added to the weakness in canola, according to the broker. However, he said improving crush margins were likely still bringing in some scale-down demand.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: C$ ends steady Wednesday
Glacier FarmMedia — The Canadian dollar was steady on the day at Wednesday’s close, recovering from three-week lows relative to…
A relatively firmer tone in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex, which was holding near unchanged at midsession, was also supportive for canola.
However, “maybe canola is the canary in the coalmine,” said the trader, noting that the generally burdensome fundamental situation for the oilseeds in general could pull soybeans down as well before the end of the day.
About 15,500 canola contracts had traded as of 10:50 CDT, with intermonth spreading a feature.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
