By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Feb. 14 (CNS Canada) – ICE Futures Canada canola contracts settled with small losses after trading to both sides of unchanged in choppy activity on Wednesday.
Consolidation after recent gains and a firmer tone in the Canadian dollar put some pressure on values, according to participants. The currency strengthened by roughly half-a-cent relative to its United States counterpart.
Large old crop supplies, expectations for big acres this spring, and a lack of significant end user demand were also bearish, according to participants.
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However, advances in the Chicago Board of Trade soy complex provided some spillover support. A lack of significant farmer selling also kept the market underpinned.
About 16,101 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 31,459 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 11,584 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEANS
Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were higher on Wednesday, as hot and dry weather conditions in Argentina remained the primary driver in the market. Shifting forecasts were calling for less rain over the upcoming weekend than previously thought.
Supportive chart signals contributed to the gains, as the recent strength in the market moves the nearby technical bias to the upside.
However, profit taking at the highs did put some pressure on values. Relatively favourable Brazilian production prospects also limited the upside in soybeans.
CORN
Corn futures managed to hold onto small gains, finding spillover support from the advances in soybeans.
Solid export demand kept corn underpinned as well, with U.S. grain looking attractively priced on the global market.
However, supplies in the countryside are large, and any improvement in price was bringing in farmer selling to temper the upside.
WHEAT
All three wheat markets were lower, as speculative profit-taking and large world supplies weighed on values.
However, conditions remain dry across a large portion of the U.S. winter wheat growing regions, which kept some weather premiums in the market as that lack of moisture cuts into yield prospects and keeps fields more susceptible to winterkill.
