US soyabeans and corn turned higher in choppy trade on Tuesday, following strength in crude oil and gold as the US dollar pared gains. But uncertainty over the European Union's efforts to resolve its debt crisis hung over the market, keeping traders on edge. Wheat futures were narrowly mixed.
"We are largely hostage to the whims of European news," said Bill Nelson, oilseed analyst with Doane Agricultural Services in St. Louis. "We are going right now with crude oil up sharply and gold rallying, with a bit more interest in buying into commodities," Nelson said.
Markets were rattled by news that a meeting by eurozone finance ministers was cancelled, although the summit of EU and eurozone leaders will proceed on Wednesday as scheduled, an EU spokesman said. At the Chicago Board of Trade by 11:42 am CDT (1642 GMT), November soyabeans were up 6 cents at $12.32-3/4 a bushel and December corn was up 3 cents at $6.54 a bushel. December wheat was unchanged at $6.42-1/2 a bushel.
Indications of demand for grains from China lent early support to grains. China bought half a million tonnes of new-crop Australian wheat in recent deals in an effort to meet demand from its thriving livestock industry. The China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC) said it expects China to import 5 million tonnes of corn in 2011/12, up from 979,000 tonnes in 2010/11, and will also boost wheat imports.