Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed lower Thursday on a mild setback after rallying to a one-month top this week amid fresh speculative buying interest by commodity funds, traders said. Commercial hedge pressure dominated Thursday's price moves, keeping a lid on prices after early fund-buying.
July rice ended 9 cents per hundredweight lower at $10.74-1/2 - after climbing 75 cents from Friday to Wednesday. September closed 3 cents weaker at $11.15 and November was down 1/2 cent at $11.40-1/2.
Volume was large estimated at 2,216 futures and 15 options, but that was down from the 3,736 futures and 64 options that traded Wednesday. Man Financial was the featured seller for commercial firms. Man sold July and November rice but most of the selling was in November, traders said.
Spread trade was also active with firms rolling July positions before the start of the delivery period at month's end. Weekly export sales data was viewed supportive but had little market impact, traders said. The US Agriculture Department reported that 50,200 tonnes of US old-crop rice were sold for export last week. The tally was 84 percent above the previous week and 90 percent over the four-week average.
There was little change in the fundamental outlook for rice, analysts and traders said. Ample nearby supplies overhang the July contract while outlooks for the US stockpile to shrink in the coming years as farmers plant rice remains supportive to new-crop months. Additional support stems from tight global supplies amid rising Asian populations, traders said.
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