HAMBURG/SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat and corn stabilised on Wednesday, supported by limited bargain-hunting following recent sharp falls caused by good crop weather in the US Midwest, which has raised prospects for ample supplies.
Soybeans fell as investors closed out positions after the market rose on Tuesday amid Chinese purchases and prospects of tighter global oilseed supplies.
"We have seen some hefty falls in corn and wheat in the last three days, and this generated a limited amount of buying interest today," one European trader said. "But with soybeans weak and the background macro environment pretty negative, the rise is not being regarded as robust."
Chicago Board of Trade May corn rose 0.1 percent to $6.17-3/4 a bushel by 1029 GMT after touching $6.15-3/4 in Wednesday's Asian trade, the lowest since Mar. 30 on a continuation chart.
Chicago May wheat was unchanged at $6.15-1/2 a bushel.
Chicago May soybeans fell 0.6 percent to $14.16-3/4 a bushel, down from last week's seven-month high of $14.52-1/4.
"The soybean market still fundamentally well supported, but the macro background of a stronger dollar, weaker crude and falling equities today is a burden," the trader said.
Corn and wheat prices on Tuesday were pressured by overall positive news about US plantings. Rainy weather slowed planting of US corn during the weekend, but farmers were still ahead of schedule due to warm soil temperatures, US Department of Agriculture data showed.
US farmers had seeded 17 percent of their corn acreage as of April 15, up from 7 percent a week ago and well ahead of the five-year average of 5 percent, according to the USDA's weekly crop progress and conditions report. A year ago, planting was 5 percent complete.
"Corn sowing is 17 percent complete, but we think that it is bit higher, more like 20 percent because of favourable weather as it has been a lot warmer than normal," Andrew Woodhouse, an analyst at Advance Trading Australasia, said.
The soybean market still had underlying support from strong demand led by China, the world's biggest importer, and shrinking supplies after a drought in South America.
The USDA on Tuesday said US exporters had sold 225,000 tonnes of soybeans to an unknown destination, thought by some to be China.
Closely watched Hamburg-based oilseed analyst Oil World said on Tuesday it had cut its forecast of Argentina's 2012 soybean crop by 1.0 million tonnes and that of Brazil by 0.5 million tonnes after drought damaged harvests.