Wheat prices bounce after steep losses; soybeans also firm

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose about 1 percent on Monday in a recovery bounce after falling to a seven-week low, but trade was cautious after weekend rains on the parched US Plains offered respite for the winter wheat crop.

Soybeans firmed on bargain-buying after Monday's losses while corn was narrowly mixed in choppy trade.

As of 12:33 p.m. CDT (1733 GMT), CBOT May wheat was up 5-3/4 cents at $4.56-1/2 a bushel after dipping to $4.50, its lowest since Jan. 26. K.C. May hard red winter wheat was up 1-3/4 cents at $4.72.

CBOT May soybeans were up 6-1/2 cents at $10.29 a bushel and May corn was unchanged at $3.75 a bushel.

"Everything is finding technical support today. In absence of that aggressive selling that we were seeing yesterday, we are starting to drift back up a bit," said Ted Seifried, analyst with Zaner Ag Hedge.

K.C. wheat futures trailed the gains in CBOT wheat as some forecast models called for another round of moisture in the drought-hit southern Plains, where the hard red winter wheat crop is exiting dormancy and resuming spring growth.

"The midday maps were a little wetter, although just east of the hard red winter wheat belt. Just the fact that there is rain out there is keeping them (buyers) at bay," said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) late Monday rated 11 percent of the winter wheat top producer Kansas in good-to-excellent condition, down from 12 percent a week earlier. Wheat ratings also declined in Texas.

However, those ratings likely did not reflect the impact of Monday's precipitation.

CBOT soybean futures were supported by technical buying and short-covering a day after Monday's 2.6 percent slide in the May contract. Expectations of more rain in Argentina on drought-damaged soybean crops pressured markets on Monday, along with funds paring big net long positions in soy and corn.

Traders remained wary of potential harm to US farm exports if the Trump administration goes ahead with plans for new tariffs on up to $60 billion worth of Chinese technology and consumer goods annually.

Soybeans are the biggest US agricultural export, followed by corn. China is by far the largest buyer of US soybeans.

US agricultural exports could be at risk in any retaliation over tariffs implemented by the White House, US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said on Monday.

"Trump talking about hitting China with annual tariffs has the market continuing to be worried about a trade war," Seifried said.