US corn futures fell for a fourth straight day and hit a three-month low on Thursday and wheat slid 2 percent to a 2-1/2 month low, pressured by technical selling and fund liquidation ahead of a government grain stocks report on Friday. Soyabeans were mixed, anchored by spillover pressure from sinking grains but underpinned by worries about tight global supplies and signs of improving demand following the recent price plunge.
Trading volume was light as investors squared positions ahead of Friday's US Agriculture Department quarterly report on US grain stocks, which could show season-end stocks of corn and beans at an eight-year low. Traders who bet on further price gains liquidated long positions on chances Friday's data shows stocks are healthier than expected.
The US Department of Agriculture reported net corn export sales last week of just 400 tonnes, the lowest weekly total since a net-negative week of sales nine weeks ago.
Domestic corn demand has also slumped. Chicago Board of Trade December corn fell 10-1/2 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $7.14-1/4 a bushel by 12:45 pm CDT (1745 GMT), the lowest for a front-month contract since July 3. The spot contract breached support at the 100-day moving average on a continuous chart at about $7.15 a bushel.
The benchmark CBOT December wheat contract fell 16-1/4 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $8.53 a bushel. The plunge accelerated as sell-stops were triggered as the contract dipped below a mid-August low of $8.57-1/4. The USDA on Thursday said net export sales of US soyabeans last week hit a six-week high of nearly 800,000 tonnes and also reported an additional 110,000-tonne sale to China via its daily reporting system. CBOT November soyabeans rose 5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $15.78 a bushel after earlier sinking to a seven-week low of $15.57-1/2.
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