Having arrested the recent decline with a positive close yesterday there was some buying continuing to flow in through the early part of today’s session which took Jul’23 to a mid-morning high at 24.85 before slipping back to the 24.60’s. Volume was muted throughout this period and though a second push upward around noon saw a marginal session high at 24.89 the lack of follow on interest meant that prices slipped back into the range soon afterwards. Recent sessions have seen some position trimming/profit taking from funds, and with that sector now clearly further disengaged from the buy side there seems little likelihood of a return to the highs in the foreseeable future. With lacklustre activity maintained for the outright positions it was the index roll which dominated a moderate volume through the afternoon with their movements sending Jul/Oct’23 into 0.25 points as the flat price eased all the way back to 24.38. Day trader short covering saw the price briefly nudge back up above 24.60 however there was no other buying and a tedious closing period saw values drifting at the lower end of the range to post mild losses, Jul’23 settling at 24.50.
A mildly firmer start did little arrest the recent decline in nearby values, and though there was a small push up to $677.60 mid-morning this appeared to be more to do with following No.11 spec movements that any significant buying flow to the whites. The price action soon returned to the lower $670’s and despite outside factor against pulling the price back up a little the highs were never threatened with the Aug/Jul’23 white premium losing ground to trade around $125.00. The status quo was maintained through into the early afternoon, and with no fresh buying appearing the market once more began to drift lower, filling in more scale buying from consumers as the price descended to $666.50. This was still above yesterday’s lowest level so may represent the start of a bottoming action, however the market has few obvious friends currently and so the afternoon saw consolidation to the lower half of the range. The rest of the afternoon saw the session end with a whimper, Aug/Oct’23 giving back its early gains to be only mildly firmer at $5.70 while Aug’23 recorded another small loss at $669.20 to leave the picture unchanged.
