Wheat and corn extend decline

Wheat futures extended a five-session decline and set a fresh five-month low on Thursday while corn futures fell for a sixth day as technical selling and sluggish export demand weighed on both markets. Nearby soyabean futures were higher on strong export demand but pared early gains as grains sagged.
At the Chicago Board of Trade as of 12:35 p.m. CST (1835 GMT), March wheat was down 5-1/2 cents at $8.06-1/2 per bushel after falling to $8.01-1/2, dropping below its 200-day moving average for the first time since June 22. CBOT March corn was down 6 cents at $7.19-1/2 bushel after hitting $7.15, near long-term chart support at $7.14-1/2. "You've got year-end liquidation going on, and very little enthusiasm. And the biggest problem with corn and wheat is the fact that nobody buys your product," said Mark Schultz, chief market analyst with Northstar Commodity Investment Co, referring to export demand.
In a weekly report, the US Department of Agriculture on Thursday reported export sales of US corn in the latest week at 272,600 tonnes for the current and next marketing year, within a range of trade estimates for 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes.
However, analysts said export commitments for US corn thus far in marketing year 2012/13 are the lowest in USDA records dating to 1987. Of the weekly corn sales, Brian Hoops, president of Midwest Market Solutions, said, "We expected they'd be pretty pitiful, and they were." USDA reported weekly export sales of US wheat at 573,400 tonnes, above trade estimates for 350,000 to 550,000 tonnes. But after a brief rally following the export data, CBOT wheat retreated and continued a slide that began last week in anticipation of USDA's December 11 monthly crop report. USDA in that report raised its estimates of US and global wheat ending stocks above trade expectations.
For the week, CBOT March wheat has lost more than 6 percent in value, on track for its biggest weekly decline since June. CBOT January soyabeans were up 6 cents at $14.79-1/2 per bushel but pared gains since briefly rising above their 50-day moving average of $14.89. The contract has not settled above that average since September 19. Soyabeans rallied after the US Department of Agriculture released a weekly report showing export sales of US soyabeans in the latest week at more than 1.3 million tonnes, well above trade expectations for 600,000 to 850,000 tonnes.