CHICAGO, Feb 26 (Reuters) – U.S. wheat futures shed 1.3
percent on Wednesday, pressured by worries that the recent
run-up in prices to a two-month high would make supplies from
the United States less competitive in global markets.
Soybean and corn futures each were narrowly higher, after
notching new five-month peaks as rain delays to the harvest in
South America kept the United States as the top export market
for now.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat was down 8 cents at
$6.07 per bushel. Futures were on pace for the second straight
session of lower prices in the wake of an announcement on
Tuesday that top wheat importer Egypt canceled a purchase of two
cargoes of U.S. wheat.
“We’ve exhausted buying interest and there’s concerns that
we could be pushing demand away from the market, especially on
the export side,” Jefferies Bache analyst Shawn McCambridge said
of wheat futures.
“We could get a disappointing number tomorrow. End users are
not willing to chase the market higher,” McCambridge added,
referring to the U.S. Agriculture Department’s weekly grain
export data release due early on Thursday.
CBOT March soybeans were up 3 cents at $14.02 per
bushel while March corn gained 1/2 cent to $4.56-1/4 per
bushel as of 11:13 a.m. CST (1713 GMT).
“Despite this time of the year when overseas buyers should
be eyeing the South American record harvest, the focus is still
on U.S. soybeans supplies,” said Vanessa Tan, investment analyst
at Phillip Futures in a market note.
“This is because South America is dealing with harvest
delays of the region’s record large crop.”
Prices at 11:13 a.m. CST (1713 GMT)
LAST NET PCT YTD
CHG CHG CHG
CBOT corn 456.25 0.50 0.1% 8.1%
CBOT soy 1402.00 3.00 0.2% 6.8%
CBOT meal 465.90 -3.70 -0.8% 6.4%
CBOT soyoil 41.31 0.73 1.8% 6.4%
CBOT wheat 607.00 -8.00 -1.3% 0.3%
CBOT rice 1560.00 -15.00 -1.0% 0.6%
EU wheat 200.25 1.25 0.6% -4.2%
US crude 102.66 0.83 0.8% 4.3%
Dow Jones 16,226 47 0.3% -2.1%
Gold 1325.96 -14.18 -1.1% 10.0%
Euro/dollar 1.3667 -0.0078 -0.6% 0.1%
Dollar Index 80.4960 0.3590 0.5% 0.6%
Baltic Freight 1222 25 2.1% -46.3%
(Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London and Colin Packham
in Sydney; Editing by David Gregorio)