SYDNEY: US soybeans fell on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session when prices recorded their biggest daily drop in a year on signs of better-than-expected yields in the Midwest as well as favorable crop weather in Brazil.
Wheat rose, rebounding from strong losses on Monday which were triggered by the weakness in soybeans. Corn also firmed after falling in the previous session after data showed the US harvest was progressing faster than expected.
Chicago Board Of Trade November soybeans fell 0.27 percent to $16.64-1/2 a bushel, having slipped 4.3 percent, its daily limit, in the previous session.
December wheat rose 0.74 percent to $8.84-1/2 a bushel after falling 5 percent in the previous session, while December corn firmed 0.53 percent to $7.52 a bushel, having closed down 4.4 percent on Monday.
"Both corn and wheat are up, while beans, after opening down, are clawing their way back towards unchanged, so it appears we are seeing some reversals of the very steep declines we saw last night," Luke Mathews, commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said.
Recent rains in Brazil, world's second-largest exporter of soybeans after the United States, have also weighed on soybeans and encouraged liquidation of long positions held by funds.
SOYBEAN YIELDS BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED
The sell-off in soybeans came amid talk that US yields may surpass analysts expectations in the wake of the worst drought in nearly 60-years.
Traders said on Monday that farmers and grain elevators had reported better-than-expected yields coming from the western Midwest, which had remained dry. The northern and eastern parts of the Midwest received beneficial rains in August.
Corn also fell as the harvest proceeded at a record pace. The US Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report showed 26 percent of US corn was harvested versus 15 percent a week earlier and slightly better than the expected 24 percent.
The data showed the corn harvest in Illinois, typically the No. 2 producing state, was 36 percent complete as of Sunday, up from 21 percent a week earlier. In top corn state Iowa, the harvest was 22 percent complete, up from 10 percent.
The fast pace of the harvest could weigh on prices in the cash market as farmers sell more of their grains due to concerns over diseases that could hurt quality, but analysts said the harvest pressure may be less significant this year amid tight global supplies.
The pace of the soybean harvest also exceeded forecasts. The USDA said 10 percent of the soybean crop was harvested as of Sunday, up from 4 percent a week ago and just ahead of the average trade expectation of 9 percent complete.
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