CHICAGO: US soybean futures rose on Monday due to technical buying after four straight losing sessions pushed prices to their lowest level since mid-November last week, traders said.
Corn and wheat also edged higher, with bargain buyers stepping into the market with prices near six-month lows.
"If nothing else, the market is oversold," Frank Cholly, a senior commodities broker at RJO Futures, said. "Fundamentally, nothing has really changed."
All three commodities closed last week in technically oversold territory according to the nine-day relative strength index.
Soybeans were the biggest gainers on Monday, finding direction after fluctuating between positive and negative territory early in the session. Traders said gains were capped by the impending harvest in South American countries such as Argentina and Brazil.
Investors were reluctant to stake out big positions ahead of a key US Agriculture Department supply and demand report on Friday.
"It is having a hard time gaining traction," said Jason Britt, president of Central States Commodities, "Everyone knows they are oversold and due for some sort of bounce ... (but) it seems like everyone's conviction is pretty low with the report on the horizon."
The report will provide the final update on 2012 US crop production. Trading has been particularly volatile following the January supply and demand report, with corn making limit moves on the day of the release six times in a row.
At 11:46 a.m. CST (1746 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soft red winter wheat futures were up 1-1/4 cents at $7.48-1/2 a bushel.
Short-covering provided additional support to wheat prices. A Commodity Futures Trading Commission report issued on Friday afternoon showed that speculators have built up their largest bearish bet on CBOT wheat since mid-May.
CBOT March corn was up 2-1/2 cents at $6.82-1/2 a bushel and CBOT March soybeans were 8-1/2 cents higher at $13.75-3/4 a bushel.
"We have seen a fair bit of liquidation in beans and now there is some end-user demand, which is resulting in a bounce," said Victor Thianpiriya, an agricultural strategist at ANZ in Singapore.
Investors in the soybean market are watching moves by buyers in China, the world's top importer, which has canceled US cargoes in the last few weeks on an improved supply outlook in rival exporter Brazil.
Dry weather is expected in Argentina for the next seven days followed some light rain, said John Dee, a meteorologist for Global Weather Monitoring.
"Brazil should receive rains off and on for the next 10 days. All in all the forecast looks nearly ideal for South America," Dee said.
Center>Copyright Reuters, 2013
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