By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm

WINNIPEG, Feb. 27 (MarketsFarm) – The ICE Futures canola market was trading to both sides of unchanged Thursday morning, with the bias turning to the upside by midsession.

Oversold price sentiment and speculative positioning ahead of the month-end provided some support, as canola managed to recover after touching fresh contract lows in earlier activity.

While global equity markets continued to move lower on Thursday in response to mounting fears over the COVID-19 coronavirus, the agricultural commodities were already weak and did not have as much room to the downside, according to a canola broker.

A steady tone in Chicago Board of Trade soybeans and weakness in the Canadian dollar also provided some support on Thursday.

However, aside from some bargain-hunting, most end-users appear content to keep to the sidelines for the time being as they wait for the selloff in the equities to run its course.

About 22,000 canola contracts traded as of 10:40 CST.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric tonne at 10:40 CST:

Price Change
Canola Mar 450.80 up 2.50
May 457.50 up 1.10
Jul 465.10 up 1.20
Nov 476.10 up 1.70