ICE Canola Mixed in Early Trade

The dry conditions that have continued to plague soy crops in Argentina were providing some upward momentum to the canola market, as did overnight gains by CBOT soybeans and soyoil, market watchers said. Strength in Malaysian palm oil overnight was also helpful to the market.

Domestic crusher demand in western Canada remains strong, which was giving some bullish pressure to values, brokers said.

However, with the end of 2010 right around the corner, many traders were closing out positions and booking profits ahead of the New Year, which weighed on values, experts said.

The Canadian dollar was sitting right around parity with its US counterpart, also providing a bearish influence to the market, brokers said.

At 08:30 CST, there had been about 550 canola contracts traded.

Western barley futures were unchanged and untraded early Thursday.

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 08:30 CST: