News

September 29, 2008

Traders In Agricultural Commodities Transfixed By US Financial Crisis

Sally White

Traders in agriculture commodities were transfixed, along with all market traders worldwide, by the fight to agree a bail-out for the US financial crisis. Fundamental factors were sidelined in hugely volatile trading on progress or lack of it, in Congress. Concern about how a collapse of financial systems, worsening recession, would affect consumer spending dominated sentiment, so even frozen orange juice futures saw price falls in the uncertainty.

As Friday closed with the bail-out talks in stalemate, the DJ Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index closed down 1.4 per cent and the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index fell by 1.6 per cent. Markets need the reassurance that investors will continue to dump futures contracts.

The Philippines, the world's largest rice buyer, may cut imports by as much as 35 per cent next year as domestic stockpiles surge and local production gains, Finance Under Secretary Jeremias Paul said in Manila.  President...