Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures retreated on Friday on profit-taking after hitting two-week highs in the previous session and as souring consumer sentiment and inflation worries hung over the market.
Corn futures followed soybeans lower, but wheat rallied after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported stronger-than-expected weekly export sales and confirmed a large sale to China.
U.S. corn and soybean harvest downgrades in a monthly USDA report on Thursday had lifted some grain and soy contracts to multi-week highs, leaving the market vulnerable to a profit-taking pullback ahead of the weekend.
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“The pullback today has a lot to do with the negative consumer sentiment… and the macro sentiment that we are going to lose demand worldwide,” said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics.
“The trade, because of those outside market factors, are taking some profit off the table.”
Soybean export news was mixed as USDA announced another daily “flash” sale and reported stronger-than-expected weekly sales last week, but China’s customs data showed a sharp drop in soy imports.
Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans fell 9-3/4 cents to $12.80-1/4 a bushel after hitting technical resistance at the prior-session high and the key $13 level (all figures US$). The benchmark contract, however, gained 1.1 per cent in the week for its first weekly gain in seven weeks.
December corn shed 2-3/4 cents to settle at $4.93-1/4 a bushel. But the contract added 0.3 per cent in the week.
CBOT December wheat touched a 2-1/2 week high and settled up 8-1/4 cents at $5.79-3/4 a bushel. The benchmark contract notched its second straight weekly gain, adding two per cent.
Wheat got a lift after a USDA report showed the strongest week of export sales in more than a year and the agency confirmed another rare sale of soft red winter wheat to China.
— Reporting for Reuters by Karl Plume in Chicago; additional reporting by Peter Hobson in Canberra and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
