SYDNEY: US soybeans rose for a fourth straight session on Tuesday to hit a near one-month high as strong export demand and fund buying underpinned gains.
Corn edged down, falling from a near three-week high touched in the previous session, while wheat fell despite the US Department of Agriculture reporting the condition of the winter crop fell last week.
The most active soybean futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade rose 0.27 percent to $10.24 a bushel at 0315 GMT, near the session high of $10.25 a bushel - the highest since Oct.28. Soybeans firmed 2.7 percent on Monday.
Analysts said strong export demand was supporting gains.
"The US soybean harvest is now over. US farmers will be eager to sell into any rallies before importers' attention starts to shift towards South American crops," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
"For now though, demand remains strong - weekly US soybean export inspections were even better than analysts had expected."
USDA reported export inspections of US soybeans in the latest week at more than 2.6 million tonnes, topping a range of trade expectations for 1.7 million to 2 million tonnes.
Fund buying also aided soybeans, traders said.
Commodity funds appeared to be jumping back into soybeans after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's latest weekly commitments report showed that large speculators slashed their net long position in the week to Nov. 15.
The most active wheat futures fell 0.37 percent to $4.08-3/4 per bushel, having closed up 0.55 percent on Monday when prices hit $4.12 a bushel, their highest since Nov.10.
Wheat fell despite the USDA pegging 58 percent of the US winter wheat crop as good to excellent, down from 59 percent the previous week.
The most active corn futures fell 0.36 percent to $3.48-1/2 a bushel. The contract gained 1.23 percent in the previous session when prices hit a high of $3.50 a bushel, their highest since November 9.
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