CHICAGO: US wheat and corn futures weakened on Friday a day after rising on US Department of Agriculture forecasts that indicated tightening global supplies.

Traders took some profits ahead of the weekend and on expectations that US farmers are advancing corn plantings thanks to improved Midwest crop weather, analysts said. The USDA is slated to issue a weekly update on planting progress on Monday.

Markets remain nervous about tightened grain supplies, though, due to global crop shortfalls and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a major wheat and corn exporter, analysts said.

“There is zero tolerance for crop problems in the US this summer,” said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage in Iowa, about corn.

The most-active Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract was down 7-3/4 cents at $11.71 a bushel by 10:20 a.m. CDT (1520 GMT), after rising to a two-month peak. K.C. hard red winter wheat and MGEX spring wheat futures also eased after the July contracts set new highs.

Most-active CBOT corn dropped 10 cents to $7.81-1/2 a bushel, while soybeans rose 23-1/4 cents at $16.37 a bushel.

Strength in crude oil and equities helped support CBOT soy, Pfitzenmaier said.

The USDA reported sales of 132,000 tonnes of US old-crop soybeans to China.