November 3, 2005

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle mostly down on CBOT; rangebound

 

 

Soybean futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled mostly lower in range-bound trading Thursday, in line with an overnight fall in Chicago Board of Trade soybeans.

 

The benchmark May 2006 soybean contract lost RMB4 to settle at RMB2,765 a metric tonne, after trading in a tight range of RMB2,759-RMB2,771/tonne.

 

Total trading volume in soybeans fell to 211,894 lots from 288,570 lots Wednesday. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

The local market was largely quiet due to a lack of trading cues, one Beijing-based analyst said. "The benchmark may consolidate between RMB2,750/tonne and RMB2,800/tonne for the short term."

 

"Technical support at RMB2,750/tonne, the 10-day moving average, is effective, while resistance at RMB2,800/tonne remains strong," he added.

 

Only one of six No. 2 soybean contracts, which are encouraged to be delivered with imported genetically modified crops but are seldom traded, was traded.

 

The September 2006 No. 2 contract gained RMB3 to settle at RMB2,785/tonne on a single trade of one lot.

 

Dalian soymeal futures settled mostly lower, continuing to give up gains made earlier this week.

 

The benchmark May 2006 contract lost RMB10 to settle at RMB2,388/tonne, after trading between RMB2,380/tonne and RMB2,397/tonne.

 

Corn futures on the Dalian exchange settled mostly flat after gains in the past two trading days, due to a lack of fresh buying.

 

The benchmark May 2006 contract settled unchanged at RMB1,273/tonne, after trading between RMB1,271/tonne and RMB1,279/tonne.

 

China's futures trading is off-limits to foreign investors.