By Phil Franz-Warkentin, MarketsFarm
Winnipeg, Feb. 27 (MarketsFarm) – ICE Futures canola contracts were mixed on Wednesday, with losses in the front months and a firmer tone in the more deferred positions.
Bearish technical signals and speculators adding to short positions accounted for much of the weakness in the most active nearby contracts, with prices hitting fresh contract lows for the third straight session.
Declines in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil futures, a firmer tone in the Canadian dollar, ample supplies and poor end-user demand also weighed on values.
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However, a steady tone in CBOT soybeans for most of the day did provide some underlying support. Oversold price sentiment also helped temper the declines.
About 21,604 canola contracts traded on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday when 27,138 contracts changed hands. Spreading accounted for 15,062 of the contracts traded.
SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were steady to lower after posting small gains throughout most of the session.
While confirmation is still lacking, optimism over the possibility of improving trade relations between the United States and China was enough to help beans see a recovery after yesterday’s declines.
Soymeal led to the upside in the soy complex, with adjustments in the product values seeing soyoil move lower.
Continued weakness in Malaysian palm oil and the advancing South American harvest also tempered the upside.
CORN futures were weaker, testing fresh five-month lows.
The latest U.S. ethanol report showed production at 1.028 million barrels per day in the past week, which was up slightly from the previous week. Total stocks of the renewable fuel in the country narrowed slightly to 23.709 million barrels.
While good demand from the ethanol sector was supportive for corn, U.S. Agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue told a House agriculture committee that a rule allowing sales of E15 gasoline year round may not be finalized in time for this summer, which weighed on prices.
WHEAT futures were narrowly mixed, seeing some consolidation after their recent large price swings.
European wheat futures were up in overnight trade, lending some support to the U.S. market. Ideas that recent losses were making U.S. wheat more competitively priced on the world market also provided some support.
