Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower in quiet trade on Wednesday on follow-through technical selling from Tuesday, traders said. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) may rice, which is in delivery, closed 5 cents lower at $10.21 per hundredweight.
The benchmark July contract ended down 3-1/2 cents at $10.49 and new-crop November was down 3 cents at $11.10. Volume was estimated by the CBOT at 322 rice futures, compared with 378 on Tuesday, and 126 options.
Selling by commercials and speculators pressured values in the session, with Man Financial a prominent seller of July and November, traders said. Commercial buying at the day's lows helped trim losses. July rice dipped below its 20-day moving average of $10.43 before rebounding.
The May/July spread traded lightly at 28 to 28-1/2 cents. Open interest in the May was down to 18 contracts ahead of the open. There were four deliveries on the May contract, with the Rosenthal Collins house account taking all. The United States Department of Agriculture left its weekly world market price for long grain rough rice unchanged at $7.75 per cwt.