Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago corn futures turned higher Wednesday, and wheat and soy closed down, as technical trading and investor unease about the economy roiled agricultural commodity markets.
Investors scrambled to liquidate long positions, traders said, even before the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and indicated it may pause further increases.
Private exporters earlier reported the sale of 178,000 tonnes of corn to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) May corn settled up 3-1/2 cents at $6.33-1/2 per bushel, clawing back ground after dipping to $6.23-1/4 in the session.
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U.S. wheat futures closed higher on Thursday on concerns over the limited availability of supplies for export in Russia, analysts said.
The most-active CBOT wheat contract settled down 19-3/4 cents at $6.63-1/2 per bushel, and earlier fell to $6.54, the lowest since July 2021.
Soybeans, meanwhile, closed down 18-1/2 cents at $14.48-1/2 per bushel, after the most-active contract hit a 15-week low earlier in the session.
“Any remaining longs probably got pushed out today due to technical considerations, just because of what the ag markets have been doing here for the last few days,” said Tom Fritz, a partner with EFG Group in Chicago.
Traders said futures were also weighed down by timely rains in France and elsewhere in western Europe, which eased concerns over dry conditions for their wheat crops.
Traders were watching for USDA’s weekly report on net export sales of U.S. grains and soy, due on Thursday.
The Black Sea grains deal, meanwhile, continued to affect prices. It was renewed on Saturday, allowing the safe export of grain from Ukrainian and Russian Black Sea ports.
“There’s still some talk about the Black Sea corridor opening up,” said Tom Dosdall, a commodities broker at Daniels Trading.
— Reporting for Reuters by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
