Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat, corn and soybean futures rose on Friday on a short-covering bounce ahead of a three-day U.S. holiday weekend, led by strength in crude oil and other commodities as fears waned about aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
A rally in world stocks fizzled, but the U.S. dollar cooled after data that showed the U.S. labour market is starting to loosen. U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for the Labour Day holiday.
Chicago Board of Trade December wheat settled up 16-3/4 cents at $8.11 per bushel, but stayed inside Thursday’s trading range (all figures US$). CBOT December corn ended up 7-3/4 cents at $6.65-3/4 a bushel and November soybeans rose 25-3/4 cents to finish at $14.20-1/2 a bushel.
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“Broader markets are driving CBOT ags higher … I think we are just seeing kind of a technical rebound after trading lower earlier this week,” said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst with Futures International in Chicago.
Traders were also starting to adjust positions ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply/demand reports on Sept. 12. Some private analysts have revised their U.S. 2022 corn yield estimates lower in recent days, fueling expectations that USDA might do the same in its upcoming reports.
Commodity brokerage StoneX on Thursday lowered its U.S. corn yield estimate to 173.2 bushels per acre from 176 in its previous monthly report. However, for soybeans, StoneX raised its yield forecast to 51.8 bu./ac., from 51.3 last month.
Along with worries about a global recession, grain prices were pressured earlier this week by increasing shipments from war-torn Ukraine under a maritime agreement and competitive export prices for Russian wheat.
The United Nations food agency’s world price index fell for a fifth month in a row in August, further from all-time highs hit earlier this year, as the resumption of grain exports from Ukrainian ports contributed to improved supply prospects.
However, Ukraine is also facing a fall in wheat sowing for next year’s crop, with the Ukrainian Agrarian Council on Thursday warning the area may plunge by 30-40 per cent.
In France, weekly corn crop ratings declined, reflecting the impact of dry and hot summer weather. Farm office FranceAgriMer rated 45 per cent of French maize in good or excellent condition by Aug. 29, down from 47 per cent the previous week and the lowest rating in more than 10 years.
— Reporting for Reuters by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Emily Chow in Kuala Lumpur.
