CHICAGO: US soybean futures tumbled for a second straight day on Wednesday on slowing global demand for the remnants of last autumn's US harvest as South American supplies begin to flood the market.
Corn prices declined on profit-taking and technical selling, snapping a four-session streak of gains. Additional pressure came from a firmer US dollar, which makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
Meanwhile, wheat climbed for a fifth straight session, bucking pressure from lower corn and soy and the higher greenback, as rising demand from domestic livestock producers seeking to replace high-priced corn in feed rations triggered short-covering and technical buying.
Traders unwound bullish spread bets in corn and soybeans by selling nearby contracts and buying deferred positions, eroding some of the premiums that shorter-dated contracts have built up amid concerns about historically tight US supplies.
"The dollar being up is one thing but the main thing is unwinding of bull spreads. Bull spreads have been driving this higher in both beans and corn and they're unwinding those now," said Sterling Smith, futures strategist for Citigroup.
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