Corn, soybeans slip on profit-taking, favourable Midwest weather
Wheat futures retreated on profit-taking following strong gains earlier this week and as an accelerating US 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. 'For the most part, weather remains non-threatening,' said Don Roose, president of US 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 US Drought Monitor data released on Thursday. Chicago Board of Trade July corn settled 4-3/4 cents lower at $4.28-3/4 a bushel after touching the lowest point for a most-active contract since December 5 earlier in the session.
The contract was down 3.5% from a week ago. July soybeans 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% in the week.
CBOT July wheat 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% from a week ago, its strongest weekly gain in 10 weeks. Uncertainty over US participation in the Israel-Iran conflict had lifted wheat by 4.6% at midweek ahead of Thursday's Juneteenth holiday, when markets were closed.
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