Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat futures fell for the third straight session on Wednesday, hitting a two-week low on big global supplies and a government report that pegged U.S. winter wheat crop ratings above market expectations.
Corn also slumped to a seven-month low on spillover pressure from sinking wheat and positive U.S. crop ratings, while soybeans firmed in a rebound from contract lows the previous day.
“There’s still concerns about the wheat quality problems in the southern Plains, but last night’s crop progress report muted those concerns for the moment,” said analyst Craig Hays of the Linn Group in Chicago.
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Wheat has fallen sharply from 1-1/2-month highs last week and breached technical support at the 50-day moving average, which added selling to pressure, he said.
Chicago Board of Trade July soft red winter wheat was down 5-3/4 cents, or one per cent, at $4.87-3/4 a bushel while July hard red winter wheat shed 12-1/2 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to $5.12 a bushel (all figures US$).
An optimistic wheat production outlook for southern Russia added pressure to prices, although some areas need rain to realize yields, according to crop scouts surveying the area.
Strong corn condition ratings weighed on that grain as the U.S. Department of Agriculture said 74 per cent of the U.S. crop was in good-to-excellent shape and just three per cent was poor.
CBOT July corn fell 5-1/2 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $3.49-1/2 a bushel, the lowest level for a spot month since October.
July soybeans rose 4-1/2 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $9.27 a bushel as soymeal prices gained about two per cent amid strong crush margins in the U.S.
Commodity funds sold a net 11,000 corn contracts on the day along with a net 4,000 wheat contracts, but were net buyers of 4,000 soybean contracts, trade sources estimated.
— Karl Plume reports on agriculture and ag commodity markets for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
