CHICAGO: The CME Group's grain markets began their 21-hour trading session on Sunday as the exchange tries to guard its turf against upstart IntercontinentalExchange, whose own nearly round-the-clock trade has gotten off to a tepid start. For the first time, trading in grains on CME's Chicago Board of Trade continued from 5 p.m. CDT Sunday night (2200 GMT) and continued straight through the 9:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) opening bell for the open-outcry pits and onto a 2 p.m. close. Previously, trade in grains was halted from 7:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. CDT (1215 to 1430 GMT). "Normally we'd go out for breakfast," said Tom Grisafi, president of Indiana Grain Co, an independent trader who moved his business to a farm in Demotte, Indiana. "(Now) I think our little breakfast hours are changed. If you take this seriously and you are really trading, you have to stay." With traders now resigned to a 21-hour ...

NEW YORK/LONDON: Robusta coffee futures on Liffe turned lower o n Monday, after extending their rally to an 8-1/2-month high, while cocoa and arabica coffee also moved down in quiet, rangebound dealings as the commodity complex eased. Sugar futures traded little changed. The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global benchmark for commodities, crept down 0.29 percent. Robusta coffee has climbed more than 12 percent in a steady rally the past two weeks, surpassing the 200-day moving average and moving into the highest overbought level since March 2011, according to the 14-day relative strength index. July robustas on Liffe closed down $55, or 2.5 percent, at $2,162 a tonne, after touching $2,237, the highest level for the second month since Sept. 5, 2011. The move marked an outside reversal. Dealers said the robusta market was supported by growing concern about the potential for supply tightness later this year with demand remaining strong and stocks shrinking, ...

CHICAGO: Fed cattle in Texas and Kansas traded late on Friday $3 to $4 higher at $123 to $124 per cwt, according to feedlot sources. The prices compared with trades at mostly $120 last week, sources said. In Nebraska, live-basis cattle moved at mostly $124 per cwt versus mainly $122 a week ago. Dressed cattle there sold at $195 compared with mainly $192 a week ago, a feedlot manager there said. Copyright Reuters, 2012 ...