Wheat rebounds from 7-month low; soy, corn firm on trade hopes

PARIS: Chicago wheat futures rebounded on Thursday as the market steadied after a four-day slide to a seven-month low while traders awaited fresh direction from US planting and export figures.

Wheat buckled in the past week as disappointing export news, including the absence of US wheat offers in an Egyptian tender on Wednesday, and investment fund selling took prices through chart support levels.

Thursday's technical bounce in wheat was encouraged by optimism over US-Chinese trade negotiations, which helped soybean and corn futures gain ground.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 2.0 percent at $4.90-1/282-1/2 a bushel by 1258 GMT. On Wednesday, the contract hit its lowest since July 12 at $4.75-3/4.

Soybeans were up 1.1 percent at $9.12-1/4 a bushel and corn was up 1.9 percent at $3.77-3/4 a bushel.

Egypt's state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said on Wednesday it had bought 180,000 tonnes of French wheat, 60,000 tonnes of Romanian wheat, 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat and 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat.

However, attention was now turning to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) planting estimates, due to be released at an annual USDA conference starting on Thursday, as well as a month's worth of export sales figures due on Friday as the USDA clears a backlog created by a recent government shutdown.

"Export sales data should be pretty decent for wheat and plantings could be a bit of an eye opener as well," a European trader said.

The USDA's planting estimates are expected by analysts to show a drop in wheat and soybean acreage and an increase for corn.

In the soybean market, the spotlight is on US-China trade talks, with soybeans the biggest US agricultural export to China.

The United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, marking the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The corn market has also been supported by recurring talk that China could make large purchases of the cereal as part of a trade settlement with Washington.

Brazil is expected to export 70.2 million tonnes of soybeans in 2019, consultancy Agronomist said on Wednesday, cutting its previous forecast of 73 million tonnes as a trade war between China and the United States will be less favourable to Brazil this year.