CHICAGO: US grain futures stumbled on Thursday as traders adjusted positions ahead of a federal crop report next week that is expected to show bigger estimates for the nation’s corn and soybean harvests.
Prices retreated from recent gains as traders wanted to book profits before the US Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply/demand report on Nov. 9, analysts said.
A rise in the dollar helped pressure prices, traders said.
Most-active wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 7 cents at $7.74 a bushel as of 11:35 a.m. CDT (1635 GMT). The contract has retreated since reaching the $8 mark for the first time since December 2012 on Tuesday.
CBOT corn was down 5-1/2 cents at $5.58-1/2 a bushel after pulling back from Tuesday’s 2-1/2-month peak. Soybean futures were down 26 cents at $12.18-1/4 a bushel, consolidating below a three-week top set on Tuesday.
“We’ve had a good little run” in prices, said Jim Gerlach, president of broker A/C Trading.
The USDA on Tuesday is expected to raise its estimates for US corn and soy yields and production slightly from October, according to a Reuters poll of analysts. They also, on average, expect the agency to increase estimates for US soybean ending stocks but trim the corn carryout.
Weekly US export sales data for wheat, corn and soybeans, issued on Thursday by the USDA, were toward the high end of analysts’ estimates.
“They were solid,” Gerlach said.
Wheat contributed to a new 10-year high for global prices of food commodities in October and was expected to fuel record cereal trade this year, the UN food agency said.
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