May 30, 2007

 

Wednesday: China soybean futures settle lower after stock market drop

 

 

Soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Wednesday, influenced by a sharp drop in the stock market.

 

The new benchmark January 2008 soybean contract settled RMB59 lower at RMB3,285 a metric tonne.

 

Total trading volume rose to 358,160 lots from 260,582 lots Tuesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

The fall in the futures came as the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.5% after the Ministry of Finance said it would raise its stamp duty on share trades to 0.3% from previous 0.1%, effective Wednesday.

 

Traders said the drop in soybeans was only due to negative psychological effects spilling over from the stock market, and that the impact on grains futures could be brief.

 

Tianma Futures analyst Xu Wenjie said the next direction for grain futures depends on which way they go at the Chicago Board of Trade overnight.

 

Soymeal and soyoil futures also settled lower, in line with soybean contracts.

 

The benchmark September 2007 soymeal contract settled RMB50 lower at RMB2,536/tonne, while the benchmark September 2007 soyoil contract settled RMB204 lower at RMB7,592/tonne.

 

Corn futures settled mostly lower. Benchmark September 2007 contract settled RMB14 lower at RMB1,650/tonne.

 

Trading volume for all corn contracts rose to 332,738 lots from 285,536 lots Tuesday.