ICE Canadian canola futures dipped on Friday for the first time in five sessions, with investors taking profits, but they notched their biggest weekly gain in three months. Canola's weakness reflected a selloff in Chicago soybeans, corn and wheat. Funds, short an estimated 20,000 contracts, seen on the sidelines after covering some shorts earlier this week.

Crusher buying seen as light. Weekly canola crushings dipped 9.5 percent. Trade expecting Statistics Canada to increase its canola production estimate next Wednesday to 13.7 million tonnes from 13.4 million. January canola lost $2.90 to $594.30 on volume of 6,622 contracts. Posts 3.2 percent weekly gain. Nearby January contract registered a 4 percent monthly loss.

March canola gave up $3.10 to $594.10 on volume of 3,976 contracts. January-March spread widened to a January premium of 20 cents, trading 3,740 times. Chicago January soybeans shed 9-1/4 US cents to US $14.38-3/4 per bushel. Paris February rapeseed lost 1.1 percent. Malaysian February palm oil slipped 0.7 percent. Canadian dollar was trading at $0.9928 against the US dollar or US $1.0073 at 1:56 pm CST (1956 GMT), unchanged from Thursday's close.

Copyright Reuters, 2012