Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed mixed on Thursday after an technical rally when buy-stops were hit, traders said. CBOT rice futures closed 6 cents per hundred weights higher to 3 cents lower. November was up 6 cents at $7.16 and January was 1 cent down at $7.20-1/2. "Buy stops were hit from $7.22 all the way up to $7.33 in January," one rice broker said.
January climbed 11-1/2 cents to $7.33. The rally attracted farmer hedge sales at $7.30 and up. That eventually brought the market back down along with speculative profit taking. Front-month spreading was active as traders continued to roll their November positions before its last trading day on November 18.
Open interest in November fell by 30 lots to 667 on Thursday's open. There were light deliveries of five lots against the November contract on Thursday. A customer of ADM Investor Services issued all five while a Fiat Futures customer stopped them.
USDA's weekly export sales report will be released a day late on Friday. US government offices were closed on Thursday for Veterans Day.
Traders are expecting routine sales in the80, 000 tonne range. Estimated volume was large at 989 futures and 55 options.