By Terryn Shiells, Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Dec. 18 – Canola futures on the ICE Canada trading platform were slightly higher amid choppy activity Thursday, as traders were starting to enter holiday mode with Christmas a week away, analysts said.
Speculators were said to be on both sides of the market, with farmer selling and export activity both on the quiet side.
End user demand remains steady for Canadian canola, which was supportive, as was spillover from the gains seen in Chicago soybeans.
The canola market’s technical bias has now shifted to the upside, which was also bullish, brokers said.
However, the Canadian dollar moved higher on Thursday, which was limiting the advances.
Good conditions for South American soybeans, a softening Chicago soy oil market and continued weakness in crude oil were also bearish.
As of 10:44 CST Thursday, about 18,200 contracts had traded. Spreading was a feature of the activity, with traders moving out of the January contract, into March.
Milling wheat, barley and durum futures were untraded and unchanged.
Prices in Canadian dollars per metric ton at 10:44 CST:
