US soyabean futures fell on Wednesday, pressured by favourable crop weather and profit-taking after a five-session advance that was driven by resurgent export demand, analysts said. Corn futures firmed, gaining against soya ahead of a key US government crop report due Friday, while wheat futures rose on hopes for fresh export business. At the Chicago Board of Trade as of 12:40 pm CDT (1740 GMT), benchmark November soyabeans were down 10 cents at $9.78 per bushel.
December corn was up 1-1/2 cents at $3.34 a bushel and September wheat was up 5-1/4 cents at $4.22-1/4 a bushel. Soyabeans fell on forecasts that added beneficial rains for the US Midwest this week and later in the month as the crop continues to set pods. "It's all tied to weather. You've got big rains coming here over the weekend and another big rain a week out. That is perfect growing weather for beans," said Roy Huckabay with Linn & Associates, a Chicago brokerage.
The US Department of Agriculture through its daily reporting system confirmed sales of US soyabeans in each of the previous 10 trading sessions, although no new soya sales were reported on Wednesday. Corn futures firmed but remained rangebound as traders awaited the USDA's monthly supply/demand reports on Friday, including the government's first US corn and soya yield estimates based on field surveys.