Chicago | Reuters—U.S. corn and soybean futures fell on Friday as favourable weather in much of the Midwest boosted crop production potential and as traders squared positions ahead of the weekend, analysts said.
Wheat futures retreated on profit-taking following strong gains earlier this week and as an accelerating U.S. winter crop harvest boosted supplies.
Trading was lighter than normal on Friday following a federal holiday on Thursday and ahead of the weekend.
Corn and soy traders were focused on favourable crop weather in the Midwest farm belt as hot weather is expected across the region following rains this week, forecasters said.
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Chicago Board of Trade corn futures extended slight gains on Tuesday as short covering and bargain buying continued to support a rebound from contract lows reached during the previous session.
“For the most part, weather remains non-threatening,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.
“The soybeans like the heat and the corn is not pollinating yet, so it helps it root down. On top of that, we got a rain front that went through before, and then a rain front goes through after,” he said.
Rains have boosted soil moisture reserves and drought has in the Midwest eased over the past week, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data released on Thursday.
Chicago Board of Trade July corn CN25 settled 4-3/4 cents lower at $4.28-3/4 a bushel after touching the lowest point for a most-active contract Cv1 since December 5 earlier in the session. The contract was down 3.5 per cent from a week ago.
July soybeans SN25 scaled to a 5-1/2 week high on Friday before falling back on profit-taking following gains in the prior four sessions. The contract ended down 6-3/4 cents at $10.68 a bushel, down 0.2 per cent in the week.
CBOT July wheat WN25 also retreated in a profit-taking setback ahead of the weekend, sinking 6-1/2 cents to $5.67-3/4 a bushel after earlier notching a three-month high. Still, the contract was up 4.2 per cent from a week ago, its strongest weekly gain in 10 weeks.
Uncertainty over U.S. participation in the Israel-Iran conflict had lifted wheat by 4.6 per cent at midweek ahead of Thursday’s Juneteenth holiday, when markets were closed.
—Additional reporting by Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing and Gus Tropiz in Paris.
