ICE canola down for 3rd straight day as US soy slides

CHICAGO: ICE Canada nearby canola futures fell on Wednesday for a third straight session, following declines in allied U.S. soybean markets, traders said.

Spreading was a feature as commodity funds continued to roll positions in the May futures contract into forward months.

Additional pressure stemmed from sluggish export demand and ideas that Canadian canola seedings for 2019 might not fall much below year-ago levels. Statistics Canada is due to report April 24 on principal field crops area.

May canola ended down $3.30 at $451.20 per tonne.

July canola settled down $3.50 at $458.70 per tonne and November ended down $3.50 at $470.40 per tonne.

The May-July spread traded 11,527 times between $6.90 and $7.90, premium July.

Chicago Board of Trade May soybeans settled down 9 U.S. cents at US$8.79 per bushel on technical selling and as expectations of large South American harvests fueled concerns over export demand, traders said.

Paris Matif May rapeseed futures rose 0.49 percent and Malaysian July palm oil futures rose 1.47 percent.

The Canadian dollar strengthened to a four-week high against the U.S. counterpart as bets on a Bank of Canada interest rate cut this year were checked by domestic data showing higher underlying inflation and a narrower trade deficit.