Friday: China soy futures setttle up; prices break resistance levels

 

 

China's soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled higher Friday as speculative money flowed in after prices breached the recent resistance levels.

 

The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled RMB26 higher at RMB3,756 a metric tonne.

 

A significant overnight rise on the Chicago Board of Trade helped prices break through the RMB3,700-RMB3,750/tonne range of the past week, giving traders a reason to buy more, said analysts.

 

As the market didn't react strongly to record soy output in U.S., the prices will be more sensitive to favorable news, Galaxy Futures said in a note.

 

"It will be easier for soy to rise than fall as the rise in agricultural products' prices generally lags other commodities, and a weakening dollar will help support commodities' prices as well," said a local analyst.

 

Strong Chinese demand and unfavorable weather in South America will be positive for soy prices, according to analysts.

 

The trading volume of all soy contracts rose to 312,072 lots from 133,628 lots Thursday.

 

The open interest rose 18,446 lots to 269,882 lots Friday.

 

Corn and soymeal futures settled higher, while soyoil and palm oil futures settled lower.

 

Friday'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      3,756        Up    26       312,072

Corn       May 2010      1,758        Up    7        162,700

Soymeal  May 2010      2,926        Up   23     1,381,356

Palm Oil   May 2010      6,238        Dn   30       169,736

Soyoil      May 2010      7,344        Dn   20       650,478