By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The ICE Futures canola market was weaker at midday Friday, continuing its downward slide as bearish technical signals and losses in outside markets weighed on values.
The futures hit new six-month lows, as chart-based speculative selling built on itself.
Spillover from declines in Chicago soyoil contributed to the weakness, although both European rapeseed and Malaysian palm oil futures held closer to unchanged.
The Canadian dollar continued to strengthen relative to its United States counterpart, hitting its highest level since August. A stronger currency cuts into crush margins while making exports less attractive to international buyers.
An estimated 40,100 canola contracts traded as of 11:06 CST.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne at 11:06 CST:
Canola Jan 640.50 dn 11.20
Mar 652.50 dn 11.40
May 661.60 dn 10.20
Jul 667.60 dn 9.90
