GRAINS–Wheat falls for first time in five days; weather provides floor

In Commodity News 09/03/2016

U.S. wheat fell for the first time in five sessions on Tuesday, edging down from more than a two-week high hit in the previous session, though adverse weather forecasts and fund buying provided a floor to losses. Corn fell, edging lower after hitting a two-week high in the previous session, while soybeans also fell.

The most active wheat futures contract on the Chicago Board of Trade dropped 0.32 percent to $4.61-1/4 a bushel, after closing up 0.43 percent on Monday when prices hit a more than a two-week intra-day high of $4.68-1/2 a bushel. Despite edging lower, analysts said U.S. weather forecasts were still a concern for the market.

“Observers continue to discuss dry conditions and warm temperatures on the U.S. Southern Plains as a threat to wheat crops,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “Weather forecasters continue to look for patches of light rain in different parts of the region but not enough to substantially raise soil moisture.” The warm weather means wheat crops in the U.S.

Plains are emerging from dormancy earlier than usual. The advanced development leaves the crops vulnerable to damage if the weather turns cold again. The potential adverse U.S. growing conditions comes amid strong fund buying. The most active corn futures eased 0.1 percent to $3.58-3/4 a bushel, having gained 0.21 percent the session before.

Corn fell despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture reporting on Monday that weekly corn export inspections rose to a better-than-expected 953,062 tonnes in the latest reporting week from 739,488 tonnes the week before.

The most active soybean futures fell 0.14 percent to $8.80-1/2 a bushel, after firming 0.4 percent on Monday.

Soybean export inspections rose to 1.067 million tonnes, near the high-end of market forecasts, from last week’s 1.055 million tonnes.

Chinese soybean imports in February dropped 20.3 percent from January to 4.51 million tonnes, figures from the General Administration of Customs showed.

Grains prices at 0327 GMT

  Contract        Last    Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg MA 30   RSI 
  CBOT wheat     461.25    -1.50  -0.32%    +0.33%     469.59   56
  CBOT corn      358.75    -0.25  -0.07%    +0.63%     367.34   34
  CBOT soy       880.50    -1.25  -0.14%    +1.94%     877.44   60
  CBOT rice      $10.67   -$0.03  -0.28%    +1.57%     $11.10   44
  WTI crude      $37.44   -$0.46  -1.21%    +4.23%     $31.93   76
  Currencies                                                
  Euro/dlr       $1.102   $0.002  +0.19%    +0.61%
  USD/AUD         0.743   -0.001  -0.16%    +1.07%

Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential

Source: Reuters (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)