New-crop December corn fell more than 1 percent to a one-week low on Wednesday on forecasts for increased rain in the Midwest, which eased concerns about the heat-stressed crop as it heads into its critical pollination stage. US soyabean futures fell 2 percent, posting the biggest loss in over a week, as funds liquidated long holdings as concerns about the global economy weighed, despite a half percentage point drop in the dollar index.
"Macroeconomic nervousness has a grip on the markets right now, that and there have been no big changes in the weather forecasts to feed the bull," said Sterling Smith, oilseeds analyst for Citigroup. Corn also was pressured by the bearish corn stocks data in Tuesday's US Department of Agriculture (USDA) supply and demand report. The report kept US corn ending stocks unchanged after analysts had forecast a decline.
December corn, the first month to fully reflect this year's harvest, has tumbled nearly 6 percent in the past three days. The July contract is down more than 3 percent for the week. Last week it rallied 8 percent on forecasts for dry weather in the US Midwest. Such weather could interfere with the corn crop's pollination process which begins in mid-June.
At 10:41 am CDT (1541 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade new-crop corn for December delivery was down 9 cents at $5.13-1/2, spot July delivery was up 3 cents per bushel at $5.87. CBOT July soyabeans were down 28 cents at $14.07 and July wheat was up 3-1/2 at $6.19-1/2.