Grain futures on the Chicago Board of Trade pushed lower on Thursday as investors resumed liquidation of long positions as turmoil in the Mideast and North Africa continued, traders said. Grains prices had rebounded late Wednesday, mostly on short-covering after a limit-down day on Tuesday.
The US Department of Agriculture released its updated acreage forecast before Thursday's opening, with slightly bearish implications. The USDA said US farmers will plant 92 million acres with corn and 78 million acres with soyabeans this spring, unchanged from the department's February 14 baseline projections, slightly higher than analysts' projections.
CBOT trends as of 10:25 am CST (1625 GMT) on Thursday:
-- March wheat down 20 cents at $7.43 per bushel.
-- March corn down 10-1/2 cents at $6.81 per bushel.
-- March soyabeans down 17-1/2 cents at $13.02-1/2 per bushel.