By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, April 7 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were posting small losses at midday Friday, with chart-based speculative selling and a firmer tone in the Canadian dollar behind some of the weakness.
Early declines in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex also weighed on canola, although the US futures were turning higher in many months which helped take canola well off its lows.
Uncertainty in global geopolitics, following a US missile strike on Syria, had no real direct impact on the agricultural markets, according to a broker. However, he said the psychology of many traders was likely rattled, leading to some position evening ahead of the weekend.
Tightening old crop supplies provided some underlying support for canola, according to participants. However, the large South American soybean crop and expectations for big North American oilseed acres this spring remained bearish.
About 11,000 canola contracts had traded as of 11:03 CDT.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were all untraded and unchanged.
