Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures consolidated on Friday, closing mixed and rangebound after late pressure from technical sales, traders said. Past-noon selling by local traders pushed the market into stops, one broker said.
Sell-stops were first hit in March at $10.09. The heaviest stops were hit between $10.08 and $10.06-1/2. "About 200 lots were sold in that range," the broker added. March rice closed steady at $10.13 per hundredweight, recovering late amid speculative buying by Man Financial.
May ended 1/2 cent off at $10.42-1/2. The other contract months settled 3 cents higher. There was little news to stir much trade interest, which kept prices within recent ranges. An estimated 1,398 futures and 126 options traded, down from the 1,414 futures and 140 options that traded on Thursday.
The rice market has been on a downward spiral since the January 12 USDA crop report, showing a bigger supply of US rice than traders expected. That coupled with a lagging export pace this season brought the market off a two-year top made January 12.
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