Rough rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Friday on scattered technical selling and slipover from steep declines in corn, soyabbeans and wheat, traders said "We couldn't get out of the way of other grain market losses," one trader said.
CBOT July rice settled down 1 cent at $10.64 per hundredweight. September fell 3 cents at $10.99 and November was down 2 at $11.28. Volume was estimated by the exchange at 1,148 futures and 48 options. J.P. Morgan was a light buyer of September toward the close, helping to lift that contract off its session low.
Commercials had an only limited presence as light buyers. The July/September spread traded at a carry of 32 to 33 cents, with FC Stone buying September and selling July in what was thought to be a fund-related move, traders said.
July/November traded at 62. There was little fundamental news to steer price direction. Indonesia is unlikely to need additional rice imports this year because rising domestic output will allow state logistics agency Bulog to boost national stocks, a senior government official said.