Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade slipped again on Tuesday on follow-through technical selling after gapping lower on the open, traders said.
"Speculative selling drove the market into sell-stops. All of it was in the January," said one rice broker. Light commercial buying by RJ O'Brien surfaced, helping prices recover.
But the market gave out late and closed near the day's lows. November rice closed 10 cents down at $7.33 per hundredweight. January settled 9-1/2 cents lower at $7.51, dipping below its 20 and 30-day moving averages.
Spread trade was active in the January-March, which traded at 25 cents. US cash markets were quiet, giving the market little direction. There were six rice deliveries posted against the November contract on Tuesday, which were met by commercial stopping.
A customer of E.M. Combs made the deliveries that were stopped by the ADM Investor Services house account. Open interest in the November contract was small at 87 contracts, down four lots, as of Tuesday's open.
The last trading day for November rice on Friday. After the markets closed, the US Agriculture Department reported that the weekly world market price for long grain rough rice was unchanged at $5.91 per cwt.