ICE Canadian canola closed mixed with choppy trade on Friday amid position-squaring before the long weekend in Canada. The benchmark July canola contract gained $1.40 to close at $476.80 on volume of 13,634 contracts while new-crop November edged down 10 cents to $472.80, with 8,080 contracts traded; January dropped 20 cents to $476.80 on volume of 462.
Despite the mixed tone, July touched $478, a fresh seven-month high since canola reached $481.40 on October 9. The July-November spread traded 6,833 times between $1.80 over and $4.70 over. Investors are paying a premium for the front month to avoid being caught short in light of unfavourable planting weather on parts of the Prairies, one trader said. Funds bought 1,000 contracts.
The ICE Winnipeg market will close Monday for Canada's Victoria Day holiday. Canola felt pressure from lower soyabean and crude oil futures, but mild support from a weakening Canadian dollar. Chicago Board of Trade May soyabeans fell 17 US cents to settle at $11.30-1/2 a bushel as profit-taking countered bullish input from big soya exports and shrinking soya supplies.
At 12:58 pm CDT (1558 GMT), light crude oil was down US $2.01 to US $56.61 per barrel. The Canadian dollar was trading between $1.1784 and $1.1787 to the US dollar or 84.85 US cents, down from Thursday's close of $1.1710 to the US dollar or 85.40 US cents.
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