CANBERRA: US corn futures edged lower on Monday, retreating from a more than two-month high touched in the previous session, though concerns about harvest delays across the United States capped losses.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most active corn futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were down 0.2% at $5.67-1/4 a bushel by 0214 GMT, having gained 1% in the previous session when prices hit a high of $5.69-1/4 a bushel, the highest since Aug. 17.

The most active soybean futures were down 0.2% at $12.47-1/4 a bushel, having firmed 0.3% on Friday.

The most active wheat futures were up 0.4% at $7.76 a bushel, having closed little changed on Friday.

Corn draws support as harvest delays tighten supplies in the United States.

Private exporters reported the sale of 279,415 tonnes of corn to Mexico and 132,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations for delivery in the 2021/22 marketing year, the US Agriculture Department said last Friday. Separate soybean sales totalling 222,350 tonnes also were reported.

Poor spring wheat harvests and an export duty imposed by Russia have heightened expectations of relatively tight wheat supplies this season.

MARKET NEWS

The dollar traded near a 2 1/2-week high to major peers on Monday as quickening inflation in the United States boosted the case for earlier Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.

Oil prices fell on Monday after China said it released reserves of gasoline and diesel to boost supply, while investors unwound long positions ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on Nov. 4.

Investors are weighing whether momentum from the stock market's record-breaking rally will continue in the last two months of 2021, a traditionally strong calendar period for equities but a stretch that may carry more risks than usual this year.