Friday: China soy futures settle down; Dubai debt woes prompt selling
Soy futures traded on the Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower Friday, as investors took profit after Dubai's debt problems triggered losses in global equities and commodities.
The benchmark September 2010 soy contract settled RMB25 a metric tonne lower at RMB3,935/tonne, or down 0.6%, after trading in a range around Thursday's settlement price of RMB3,960/tonne for much of the session.
Open interest increased despite the late fall in prices, showing that competition between long- and short-position holders was active, said Wang Xiaoguang, an analyst with Galaxy Futures.
Crude oil futures broke below $74 a barrel on Friday, dropping more than 5% as investors spooked by Dubai's debt troubles sold assets perceived as risky, including commodities ranging from oil to metals.
Dubai's problems will have a negative impact on European banks and equities markets, analysts said.
However, gains in agricultural product prices have lagged increases in those of other commodities such as metals, so they may not fall as far either, analysts said.
Trading volume of all soy contracts jumped to 1,777,864 lots from 867,876 lots Thursday.
Open interest rose 23,490 lots to 346,084 lots Friday.
Corn futures, soymeal futures, palm oil futures and soyoil futures all settled lower, with vegetable oil futures under heavy pressure from the big fall in crude oil prices.
Following are Friday's settlement prices in yuan a metric tonne for benchmark contracts and volume for all contracts in lots (One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes):
Contract Settlement Price Change Volume
Soy Sep 2010 3,935 Dn 25 1,777,864
Corn May 2010 1,772 Dn 15 155,390
Soymeal Sep 2010 2,940 Dn 65 2,471,700
Palm Oil Sep 2010 6,616 Dn 216 301,352
Soyoil Sep 2010 7,686 Dn 208 1,254,102
