US MIDDAY: soya tumbles

US soyabean futures fell for a second straight day on Tuesday, sliding more than 1 percent to a three-month low as the record-fast US harvest and better-than-expected yields weighed down prices along with spillover pressure from plunging palm oil prices. But soyabeans pared early session lows as the steepest two-day drop in two weeks triggered light commercial buying and short-covering.
Corn prices eased on rapid harvest progress and spillover pressure from lower soya, but the market also trimmed earlier losses on bargain buying and as soyabeans recovered. Wheat prices fell for the sixth time in seven sessions on forecasts of rain in the drought-parched US Plains, which was expected to boost winter wheat planting.
Benchmark November soyabeans on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 22-1/4 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $15.38 a bushel by 11:48 am CDT (1648 GMT) after earlier sinking to lowest level for the front month contract since July 2. The November contract found some technical support at the 100-day moving average around $15.26-3/4. Commercial buying also developed near the lows. CBOT December corn slipped 3 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $7.53-3/4 a bushel while December wheat dropped 15-3/4 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $8.68-1/2.
"The extreme weakness in the Malaysian palm oil market is casting a pall across oilseeds of all shapes and sizes. Combine that with our (US soyabean) harvest moving along at a record clip and it's not creating an environment that's bullish for prices," said Sterling Smith, futures specialist with Citigroup.
The US Agriculture Department said on Monday that the soyabean harvest was 41 percent complete as of September 30, while the corn harvest was 54 percent done, both a record-fast pace. Steady reports of higher-than-expected soyabean yields as August rains revived the drought-stressed crop offered little support to futures. Investors awaited the latest corn and soyabean production and yield forecast from commodity brokerage INTL FC Stone, expected after the close on Tuesday.