CHICAGO: US soybeans fell for a second straight day on Tuesday and posted their biggest losses in two weeks as the harvest advanced and economic growth in China, the world's top soy importer, slowed for a third consecutive quarter.
Corn and wheat fell with soybeans then pared losses to head marginally higher on firm cash markets and bargain buying after recent declines.
The slowdown in growth in China, a major consumer of a variety of commodities from oil to copper to soybeans, renewed concerns over the global economy sparked in recent weeks by Europe's sovereign debt crisis.
The concerns were escalated after rating agency Moody's cautioned that it might downgrade France's Aaa credit rating.
"This has nothing to do with fundamentals. The macros are in charge, the dollar was strong, energies and the Dow were down and grains were down," said Roy Huckabay, analyst for The Linn Group, a Chicago trade house.
"In my opinion, we'll be up at some point today because the cash markets are pretty strong."
Indeed, the wheat market did turn higher, led by a rally in the Minneapolis Grain Exchange spring wheat futures market because of a tight supply of high protein milling spring wheat.
At 9:58 a.m. CDT (1458 GMT), MGEX December spring wheat was up 7-1/4 cents per bushel at $9.03 per bushel.
CBOT December wheat turned up 2-3/4 cents at $6.27 per bushel at 10:00 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT).
CBOT December corn was down 1-1/2 at $6.39 and November soybeans were down 11 at $12.42.
Wheat, corn and soybean futures were underpinned by firm cash markets as US farmers remained reluctant to sell fresly harvested crops into what they perceive to be low prices.
Corn prices remain 20 percent below the record high of $7.99-3/4 hit this summer, and soybean prices are down 15 percent from the 2011 high set in late August.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said late Monday that 47 percent of the US corn crop was harvested as of Oct. 16, up from 33 percent a week earlier but just below the average analyst estimate of 48 percent.
Soybeans were 69 percent harvested as of Sunday, up from 51 percent a week ago, the USDA said. That is short of the analyst estimate of 72 percent.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.