SINGAPORE/PARIS: Chicago wheat futures climbed to a one-week high on Monday as prices rose on expectations of demand for US cargoes after the market dropped to a six-month low last week.
Soybeans edged lower after suffering their biggest one-day decline since late September on Friday as Brazilian exporters give stiff competition to US suppliers.
The Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat contract gained 0.8 percent at $4.28-1/4 a bushel by 1230 GMT, after earlier rising to $4.29-3/4 a bushel, the highest since Oct. 27.
Wheat on Oct. 31 slid to a six-month low of $4.16-1/4.
Soybeans were down 0.05 percent at $9.86-1/4 a bushel, having closed down 1.3 percent on Friday, the biggest daily loss since Sept. 25, while corn gained 0.4 percent to $3.49-3/4 a bushel.
Wheat has support from expectations of demand for US supplies after prices dropped to their lowest since late April last week.
Exporters sold 300,000 tonnes of US hard red winter wheat to Iraq.
Last week, the Taiwan Flour Millers' Association purchased 86,000 tonnes of US milling wheat in an international tender.
"It is more of bargain-buying in wheat," said one India-based agricultural commodities analyst.
"US farmers should reduce planting again this year as it is for a third year in a row they will not be making any profit by selling wheat. But there is not a big upside potential in prices as world inventory is very large."
Soybeans were pressured by a fall in the Brazilian currency, making South American supplies cheaper.
Brazil is expected to win a larger share of China's soybean imports in coming months, hitting US exporters during the peak marketing season for their most valuable farm product as the world grapples with a fifth consecutive bumper crop.
China is expected to buy about 5 million tonnes of soybeans from Brazil for the fourth quarter of 2017, two senior trade sources said, double the 2.49 million tonnes shipped over the same period last year.
Argentina is expected to harvest 53 million tonnes of soybeans, its largest cash crop, in the 2017/18 season, the agriculture ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Large speculators increased their net-short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Oct. 31, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net-short position in CBOT wheat and raised their net-long position in soybeans.
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