ICE Canola Turns Higher On Spec Buying

After extending Thursday’s losses in early activity, the canola market ran into technical support and speculative fund buying helped take prices higher, said a broker. While CBOT soybeans were lower on Friday, that market was also well off its lows for the day, providing some further support for canola, which had already moved lower on Thursday when the US markets were closed for Thanksgiving.

A weaker tone in the Canadian dollar also provided some underlying support for canola, according to the broker.

Light exporter pricing of routine business also accounted for some of the buying interest.

Grain companies were the noted sellers, limiting the upside, according to the broker.

Concerns in the outside financial markets, stemming from news that Dubai would delay payments on a US$60 billion debt, also tempered the gains in canola, according to the broker.

Trade was described as light and choppy, with the US markets closing early on Friday.

At 10:45 CST, about 5,000 canola contracts had changed hands, with the January/March spread a minor feature of the activity.

Western barley futures were untraded and unchanged at

Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:45 CST: