Chicago | Reuters – U.S. soybean futures crept higher on Tuesday and wheat finished nearly unchanged as a sliding dollar underpinned prices.
Corn futures ended slightly lower.
The drop in the dollar index, which sank near a four-year low, helped to steady grain prices after a pullback on Monday, making U.S. crops look cheaper overseas, analysts said.
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On Monday, wheat futures Wv1 set a six-week high, soybeans Sv1 a four-week peak and corn Cv1 a two-week top before all three crops finished lower.
“The markets are seeing a modest rebound after yesterday’s sell-off,” CHS Hedging said in a note.
Most-active soybean futures Sv1 rose 5-1/2 cents to finish at $10.67-1/4 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, while wheat futures Wv1 closed up 3/4 cent at $5.23-1/4 per bushel.
Gains in soyoil futures helped to support soybeans, an analyst said.
“Stock markets are up, and commodity currencies are performing well against the weak U.S. dollar,” Peak Trading Research said in a note, calling the context bullish for grains.
CBOT corn Cv1 ended down 1-3/4 cents at $4.26-1/2 per bushel. Wintry weather fuelled concerns among some traders that reduced operations at U.S. ethanol plants could dent demand for the grain, analysts said.
Grain and soybean markets also remained capped by ample global supplies.
Traders expect Brazil will harvest a record soy crop and top buyer China will turn to the South American nation for imports in the coming months after a recent wave of U.S. soybean purchases. The availability of Brazil’s new crop was limited, though, with harvesting still in its early stages and advance sales by farmers relatively slow, analysts said.
“Agricultural producers in Brazil appear to be somewhat more selective in their negotiations due to what they consider to be too low prices,” Commerzbank said.
In other news, U.S. President Donald Trump travelled to the farm-state Iowaas mounting stress in the agricultural economy and delays in biofuel policy tested the patience of farmers and renewable-fuel producers.
-Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Daphne Zhang in Beijing, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra
