Nearby ICE Canola Up On Short-Covering
| 1 min read
| By Dwayne Klassen, Resource News International |
| February 19, 2010 |
| Winnipeg – The two nearby canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform were trading at slightly higher levels while the remaining active months were posting declines at midday. The buying back of previously sold positions ahead of the weekend offered the nearby months some light support, market watchers said.
Canola futures had been trading at mainly lower levels in view of the declines seen in Malaysian palm oil futures overnight and on the weakness seen in CBOT soybean and soyoil values with the start of the North American day session, brokers said. The absence of fresh export demand contributed to some of the early weakness in canola with some hedge selling by elevator companies also coming forward. At the lows, domestic processors became buyers which also helped the March and May contracts post small advances, traders said. Routine pricing of old export business to Japan and Mexico was also evident. Weakness in the Canadian dollar was also a minor supportive influence. Keeping the gains in canola check were reports that beneficial rainfall was aiding the development of the soybean crops in Argentina and Brazil, brokers said. The large supply base of canola on farm in western Canada also was an undermining price influence. Spreading continued to be a large part of the volume seen in canola, as fund accounts continue rolling positions out of the nearby March contract and into the May future, traders said. There were an estimated 6,238 canola contracts traded at 10:38 CST. Of the contracts traded, 5,134 consisted of spreads. There were no western barley futures traded as of 10:38 CST. |
