SYDNEY, May 27 (Reuters) – U.S. wheat futures fell as much as 1.5 percent on Tuesday to a two-month low, as heavy rains across the southern plains provided much needed moisture to crops that have wilted under dry weather in recent weeks.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Chicago Board Of Trade July wheat fell 1 percent to $6.46-1/4 a bushel, having hit a low of $6.41-1/4 a bushel, the lowest since March 6. Wheat closed down 1 percent on Friday.
* July corn fell 1 percent to $4.73-1/2 a bushel, just above the session low of $4.72 a bushel, the lowest since March 4. Corn gained 0.26 percent in the previous session.
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* July soybeans rose 0.28 percent to $15.11-1/4 a bushel, having slid 0.21 percent on Friday.
* Wheat under pressure as Southern Plains receive much needed rain, with the U.S. National Weather Service pegging some parts of the region recording as much as two inches of rain in recent days.
* With prolonged drought, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week pegged the condition of the winter wheat crop at 29 percent good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier.
* The rains will aid newly planted corn. The USDA also said the corn crop was 73 percent planted as of Sunday, just behind the seasonal average of 76 percent.
* China has imported a small amount of corn from Brazil since official approval for the purchases went into effect on March 31, the Asian country’s ambassador said on Monday.
MARKET NEWS
* The euro struggled to gain any momentum early in Asia on Tuesday after drifting off a three-month low against the dollar with public holidays in the United States and Britain all but ensuring an anaemic session overnight.
* Brent crude eased to near $110 a barrel on Monday, down from last week’s two-and-a-half month high, as worries over Ukraine eased slightly following a presidential election.
* The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Friday, buoyed by a rally in housing stocks after better-than-expected home sales and a jump in Hewlett-Packard shares a day after the personal computer maker said it would cut more jobs.
DATA AHEAD (GMT)
0645 France
Consumer confidence
May
0800 Italy
Consumer confidence
May
1230 U.S.
Durable goods orders
April
1300 U.S.
Monthly home price index
March
1300 U.S.
S&P/Case-Shiller home prices
March
1400 U.S.
Consumer confidence
May
1400 U.S.
Richmond Fed composite index
May
1430 U.S.
Dallas Fed manufacturing index
May
Grains prices at 0035 GMT Contract
Last
Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI CBOT wheat
646.25
-6.25 -0.96%
-1.97%
696.63 12 CBOT corn
473.50
-4.50 -0.94%
-0.68%
499.62 28 CBOT soy
1511.25
-4.25 -0.28%
-0.49%
1483.84 59 CBOT rice
$15.21 -$0.04 -0.23%
-0.72%
$15.39 36 WTI crude
$104.32 -$0.03 -0.03%
+0.56%
$101.90 70 Currencies
Euro/dlr
$1.367 $0.002 +0.15%
+0.24% USD/AUD
0.926
0.002 +0.25%
+0.36% Most active contracts Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight RSI 14, exponential (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Ed Davies)
