Chicago soyabean futures rose on Friday to trade near eight-month highs on renewed concerns over a squeeze in supplies resulting from strong US exports and a smaller Argentine crop. Corn and wheat also gained, with wheat futures climbing more than one percent on weakness in the US currency and better-than-expected export numbers.
But trading was thin ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend. The dollar fell to its weakest in almost five months against a basket of major currencies on Friday as concerns about growing US government debt prompted investors to sell dollar assets from stocks to bonds.
The US Department of Agriculture said US soyabean exports last week totalled 1,367,600 tonnes, exceeding trade estimates for 650,000 to 800,000 tonnes. Argentina's drought-hit soya crop looks set to shrink by 30 percent to 32.2 million tonnes, the smallest in five years, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said.
July soyabeans on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.4 percent to $11.79 per bushel by 0422 GMT, just below $11.89 reached on Wednesday, the highest for the front month since September 2008. Analysts said the market focus was on dry weather which is likely to help much delayed corn and spring wheat sowing this weekend.
CBOT July corn rose 0.6 percent to $4.26 a bushel, while CBOT July wheat gained 1.4 percent to $6.01 a bushel. The USDA said exports of US corn last week totalled 822,000 tonnes, below estimates for 850,000 to 1.1 million. But exports of US wheat last week stood at 563,500 tonnes, above estimates for 300,000 to 400,000.
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