US MIDDAY: wheat, soyabeans slump

US grain and soya prices fell on Wednesday, pressured by technical selling amid a broad downturn across many commodities as the dollar climbed. Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures reversed from an earlier roughly four-month high while wheat futures were on pace to decline for the third straight session, nearing their contract lows set in late November. Corn futures were little changed.
The 19-market Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity Index was down 1.3 percent. The dollar hit a two-week high against a basket of currencies, making US goods more expensive in global markets. Statistics Canada data released earlier showing a bigger-than-expected Canadian canola harvest weighed on prices both for soyabeans and canola in the wake of a record-large US soya harvest. Worries about dry weather in Argentina had propelled soyabeans higher earlier this week.
CBOT January soyabeans were down 7-1/2 cents at $10.01 per bushel at 11:44 am CST (1744 GMT). The contract earlier reached $10.14-1/4 but failed to surpass Tuesday's peak of $10.15, triggering selling. Dealers said the declaration of a La Nina weather event, which can bring dry weather to parts of South America, helped to heighten concern about the crop outlook.
CBOT March wheat futures fell 6-1/2 cents to $4.26-1/4 per bushel, nearing their life-of-contract low from late in November of $4.24-1/4. The December wheat contract set a lifetime low of $3.98-1/2 ahead of its expiry next week. CBOT March corn futures were down 3/4 cent to $3.53 per bushel.