July 24, 2008
Thursday: China soybean futures settle down, off session low; oversold
China's soybean futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly lower Thursday after their counterparts on the Chicago Board of Trade broke through the support of US$14.00 per bushel overnight.
The benchmark January 2009 soybean contract settled RMB13 lower at RMB4,545 a metric tonne, or down 0.3%, after trading in a broad range of RMB4,478-RMB4,668/tonne.
November soybeans on the CBOT closed 25 cents lower at US$13.84/bushel Wednesday, ending off a session low of US$13.63/bushel.
The continuous losses in crude oil prices and a favorable weather outlook also left long position holders with less confidence, said analysts.
However, the DCE benchmark soybeans managed to move up into positive territory by noon, as there were some short-covering and new long positions entering the market at RMB4,500/tonne on bargain-hunting.
The market was oversold during the recent tumble, and the soybeans are likely to consolidate in a narrow range above RMB4,500/tonne in the short term, as traders will be waiting for a clearer weather outlook leading to the harvest season, said Gao Yunyue, an analyst at Dadi Futures Brokerage.
If the weather remains good until early August, there will be little room for pushing soybean prices higher, he added.
Soybean oil and palm oil futures settled lower, while soybean meal and corn futures settled higher.
Thursday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soybean Jan 2009 4,545 Dn 13 1,134,360
Corn Jan 2009 1,884 Up 2 227,462
Soy Meal Jan 2009 3,745 Up 3 725,932
Palm Oil Sep 2008 9,036 Dn 60 23,356
Soy Oil Jan 2009 10,336 Dn 68 370,950
