Wheat down 4-6 cents, corn down 5-7 cents, soy down 7-10 cents
CHICAGO: Following are US trade expectations for the opening of grain and soy complex trading at the Chicago Board of Trade at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) on Thursday.
WHEAT - Down 4 to 6 cents per bushel
* Market easing on concerns about export prospects for US wheat amid plentiful global supplies and expectations for big harvests in both the US Plains and Black Sea countries.
* Benchmark CBOT July wheat futures hit resistance during overnight trading session at five-day moving average.
* The US Agriculture Department said that weekly export sales of wheat totaled 502,900 tonnes. Analysts' forecasts for wheat export sales had ranged from 175,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes.
* There was one delivery against the expiring CBOT May soft red winter wheat contract. There were no deliveries against K.C. May hard red winter wheat.
* CBOT July wheat last traded down 5-1/2 cents at $4.33-1/2 per bushel. K.C. July hard red winter wheat was 4-1/4 cents lower at $3.99-1/4 and MGEX July spring wheat was down 4 cents at $5.16-1/2.
CORN - Down 5 to 7 cents per bushel
* Corn futures expected to fall on poor export sales report, forecasts for drier weather in the US Midwest that should allow farmers to pick up the pace of their planting tasks.
* CBOT July corn futures briefly rose above the 30-day moving average overnight before turning lower and sinking through its 20-day and 10-day moving averages.
* USDA reported weekly corn export sales of 294,500 tonnes, well below forecasts that ranged from 550,000 tonnes to 1 million tonnes.
* There were 252 deliveries against the expiring CBOT May corn contract.
* CBOT July corn last traded down 5-1/4 cents at $3.59 per bushel.
SOYBEANS - Down 7 to 10 cents per bushel
* Weakening on concerns about exports amid uncertainty over trade deal between the United States and China. Soybeans fell to overnight low following release of export sales report that came in well below expectations.
* Traders watching to see if soybean futures can hold above contract lows hit on Monday.
* USDA said that weekly soybean export sales totaled just 146,500 tonnes, including cancellations of 263,500 tonnes from unknown destinations. Analysts' forecasts for soybean export sales had ranged from 350,000 to 1.1 million tonnes.
* China appealed to the United States to meet it halfway to salvage a deal that could end their trade war, with its chief negotiator in Washington for two days of talks hoping to stave off US tariff increases set to be triggered on Friday.
* There were 733 deliveries against the expiring CBOT May soybean contract, 68 deliveries against CBOT May soymeal and 222 deliveries against CBOT May soyoil.
* CBOT July soybeans last traded down 8 cents at $8.19-1/4 per bushel.