Thursday: China soy futures fall, track equity weakness, dollar up

 

 

Soy futures fell on the Dalian Commodity Exchange Thursday, along with a broad commodity retreat as the dollar strengthened and China equities were still jittery over credit concerns.

 

The benchmark September soy contract settled RMB6 or 0.2% lower at RMB3,842 a metric tonne.

 

"Commodities are closely tracking equity markets nowadays, and if nothing more happens in Europe, the dollar may continue to strengthen," which would not bode well for the complex, said Li Xiaoli, analyst with Beite Futures.

 

Banking shares fell on concerns over credit curbs after China's banking regulator warned banks to be alert to credit risks, leading to small declines on the larger boards in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

 

The dollar's strength during Asian trading hours against major currencies also held commodities down, despite a boost from soy counterparts in the U.S.

 

Soy futures on the Chicago Board of Trade settled higher Wednesday as higher crude oil futures attracted investment buying, but weakened during Asian trading hours Thursday.

 

Trading volume on Dalian for all soy contracts fell to 151,276 lots from 205,422 lots Wednesday.

 

Open interest fell 5,064 lots to 353,238 lots.

 

Corn, soymeal, palm oil and soyoil futures also fell Thursday.

 

Thursday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):

 

             Contract    Settlement Price  Change      Volume

Soy        Sep 2010      3,842        Dn    6     151,276

Corn       Sep 2010      1,894        Dn    4      37,512

Soymeal  Sep 2010      2,794        Dn    6     695,488

Palm Oil  Sep 2010      6,856        Dn   44     318,688

Soyoil     Sep 2010      7,460        Dn   42     447,640