Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower Monday, setting back from Friday's firm close, traders said. September rice settled 3-1/2 cents lower at $9.41-1/2 per hundredweight. New-crop November closed 2-1/2 cents weaker at $9.67-1/2.
The market was higher early on follow-through speculative buying from Friday. Buy-stops were in September below $9.50, with Calyon a featured buyer. But rice lost steam when ADM Investor Services stepped into the market and sold about 50 November contracts at $9.72, traders said.
That was met by commercial buying by Man Financial and put the market at a standstill. Volume was estimated at 517 futures and 24 options, which was close to the 518 futures that traded on Friday.