ICE Canola Strengthens, Fund Buying Supportive

A commission house broker said fund buying was behind some of the strength in canola, with the gains in the CBOT soy complex helping encourage that demand. Overnight gains in Malaysian palm oil future, along with advances in the financial markets, were also underpinning canola values.

After being supported by export demand in recent days, the broker said there was no fresh business to report on Thursday. However, he added that some pricing of previously conducted sales was likely finding its way into the futures market.

Canola was off its early highs by midsession, as the strength in the market encouraged some farmer selling, according to the broker.

A firmer tone in the Canadian dollar also served to temper the upside in canola.

At 10:36 CDT, about 10,150 canola contracts had changed hands, with the November/January spread accounting for about 3,000 of the contracts traded.

Western barley futures were untraded and unchanged at midsession.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:36 CDT: