By Phil Franz-Warkentin, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Jan. 6 – ICE Canada canola contracts were holding onto small gains in most months Wednesday morning, although conflicting outside factors kept the Canadian oilseed within a narrow range.
On the one side, CBOT soyoil futures were down early Wednesday, which put some spillover selling pressure on canola.
However, the Canadian dollar was also sharply weaker this morning, dropping to its lowest levels relative to its US counterpart in twelve years. The softer currency makes exports more attractive to international buyers and also underpins domestic crush margins.
From a chart standpoint, the longer term technical signals remain bearish, although nearby support is holding for the time being.
Uncertainty over the developing South American soybean crops kept some caution in the oilseeds as well, with persistent concerns in some areas but improving forecasts in others.
About 5,000 canola contracts had traded as of 8:48 CST.
Milling wheat, durum, and barley futures were all untraded.
