Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat, corn and soybean futures edged higher on Friday, recovering from overnight weakness on spillover support from friendly outside markets, traders said.
“Equities went from lower to sharply higher, the dollar from higher to lower, and I think that spurred some buying in grains,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.
Strength in the cash market bolstered corn and soybeans as domestic end users looked to make purchases before farmers put recently harvested supplies in storage bins.
“Buy the bushels that you can now because you know it is going to be harder down the road,” Roose added.
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All three commodities ended well off their highs as traders exited risky positions ahead of the weekend.
Chicago Board of Trade November soybean futures settled up four cents at $13.95-1/2 a bushel and CBOT December corn was up 1/4 cent at $6.84-1/4 a bushel (all figures US$).
CBOT December soft red winter wheat gained 1-1/2 cents to $8.50-3/4 a bushel.
The U.S. dollar weakened against a basket of currencies on Friday after a report said some Fed officials have signalled greater unease with big interest rate rises to fight inflation, even as they line up another big rate hike for November.
Wheat futures threatened a one-month low during overnight trading, but turned higher after the dollar turned negative. A weak dollar makes U.S. wheat relatively cheaper to overseas buyers.
But gains were kept in check as traders worried that a global recession could cut into demand.
“Economic concerns… still linger and overshadow the demand outlook for commodities,” consultancy CRM Agri said in a note.
Grain markets have also been reacting to mixed indications regarding talks to prolong a United Nations-backed shipping corridor from Ukrainian ports.
After Russian officials renewed criticism of Moscow’s concerns not being addressed, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Friday as saying he saw no obstacles to the corridor deal being extended.
— Reporting for Reuters by Mark Weinraub in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
