Thursday: China soy futures settle tad up; no clear trading direction

 

 

China's soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled a tad higher Thursday, but there was no clear trading direction.

 

The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled up RMB5, or 0.1%, at RMB3,865 a metric tonne. The contract opened lower but edged higher during the session.

 

A stronger dollar overnight and weaker crude oil futures also weighed on commodities.

 

Macroeconomic uncertainties, impending data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's crop report at the end of the month and the dockers' strike in Argentina have all kept traders cautious and on the sidelines.

 

Local cash soy trading remained light, with prices remaining stable, providing little trading guidance to futures, said analysts.

 

Trading volume of all soy contracts declined to 108,730 lots from 143,632 lots Wednesday.

 

Open interest rose 2,460 lots to 343,982 lots Thursday.

 

Corn, soyoil, soymeal and palm oil futures all settled slightly higher.

 

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

 

Product       Contract  Settlement Price  Change     Volume

Soy            Sep 2010      3,865        Up    5      108,730

Corn          Sep 2010      1,910        Up    4       39,824

Soymeal     Sep 2010      2,822        Up    7      585,744

Palm Oil     Sep 2010      6,892        Up    6      229,218

Soyoil        Sep 2010      7,528        Up    28     525,150