By Dwayne Klassen, Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg – November 2/12 – CNS – Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at significantly weaker price levels at 10:16 CDT Friday morning with the liquidation of long positions by speculative accounts stimulating the downward price slide, market watchers said.

Some of the selling was linked to chart-based signals, with support levels in a number of contracts being penetrated during the session.

The declines in canola were also associated with the sell-off experienced in CBOT soybean and soyoil futures. The softer close overnight in Malaysian palm oil and European rapeseed futures contributed to the bearish sentiment in canola, brokers said.

Pre-weekend hedge selling by elevator companies, in anticipation of increased farmer deliveries during the weekend, also weighed on canola futures, traders said. Firmness in the Canadian dollar also was viewed as an undermining price influence.

Scale down buying by commercials helped to slow the price drop in canola. Much of that interest was said to be pricing old export business as well as covering domestic crusher needs.

As of 10:16 CDT, about 5,072 canola contracts had traded. Of those contracts, spreading accounted for 1,370 of the trades.

Milling wheat, durum and barley contracts were unchanged and untraded.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:16 CDT: