January 19, 2006

 

Thursday: China soybean futures settle mixed; technical support

 

 

China's Dalian Commodity Exchange soybean futures settled mixed Thursday, with buying underpinning some contracts after the benchmark found key technical support during the session, traders said.

 

The benchmark May 2006 soybean contract settled unchanged at RMB2,644 a metric tonne, after trading between RMB2,636/tonne and RMB2,654/tonne.

 

The benchmark contact found solid technical support around RMB2,640/tonne in the morning session. Short-covering emerged later in the day.

 

Traders said short position holders took profits, buying the benchmark contract, following sharp losses Wednesday.

 

Trading meanwhile was sluggish throughout the day as many investors hugged the sidelines ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts in late January.

 

Trade volume in the Dalian soybean futures market shrank to 121,886 lots from Wednesday's 280,480 lots. One lot is equivalent to 10 tonnes.

 

The No. 2 soybean contract, which can be delivered with soybeans harvested from genetically modified crops, settled mostly lower on light speculative selling.

 

The benchmark September 2006 No. 2 contract lost RMB15/tonne to RMB2,573/tonne, after trading between RMB2,555/tonne and RMB2,580/tonne.

 

Soyoil futures settled higher on speculative buying that focused on the benchmark contract.

 

The benchmark September soyoil contract gained RMB33/tonne to settle at RMB5,069/tonne, after trading between RMB5,036/tonne and RMB5,104/tonne.

 

Dalian's soymeal futures settled evenly mixed, with some light buying emerging after Wednesday's slippage.

 

The benchmark May 2005 soymeal contract gained RMB5/tonne to RMB2,268/tonne, after trading between RMB2,254/tonne and RMB2,280/tonne.

 

Meanwhile, corn futures traded on the exchange settled mostly lower as long liquidation persisted.

 

The most heavily traded July 2006 contract edged down RMB1/tonne to RMB1,328/tonne, after trading between RMB1,324/tonne and RMB1,331/tonne.