Soybean futures rebounded on Thursday after dropping to four-year lows a day earlier. Corn was also higher, but wheat remained under pressure.
Short covering following yesterday’s steep losses helped to support soybeans, as did the USDA’s announcement this morning of a private export sale of 227,200 tonnes of US soybeans to unknown destinations. The government’s weekly export sales report showed bookings of US soybeans for the week ended Dec. 12 at 1.42 million tonnes, in the middle of trade guesses. January was up 11 ¼ cents at $9.63, and new-crop November gained 11 cents to $9.76 ¾.
Corn was lifted by a generally positive weekly export sales report. The report put bookings of US corn for the week ended Dec. 12 at 1.175 million tonnes, up 24% from a week earlier and in the middle of trade ideas. March was up 3 ½ cents at $4.40 ¾, and December added 1 ¾ cents to $4.34 3/4.
The strong US dollar, which climbed to a two-year high against a basket of other currencies on Wednesday, kept the pressure on wheat. Although the greenback was weaker today, it held onto most of the previous day’s advances. Weekly export sales were reported at 457,933 tonnes, on the higher end of expectations. March Chicago lost 8 ¼ cents to $5.33, March Kansas City was down 5 ½ cents at $5.43 ¼, and March Minneapolis closed 5 ¼ cents lower at $5.86 ¾.
