Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures dropped 1.2 percent to their lowest in nearly four months on Thursday, with investors quickly beating back an overnight rally attempt amid a heavy global balance sheet The drop in wheat pressured corn futures while soybeans were close to unchanged after retreating from overnight gains on signs of weakening export demand. Corn futures hit their lowest in nearly two weeks.
Wheat notched the biggest losses. Traders noted that the weather forecasts for the US Plains and Midwest called for little pressure on winter wheat crops as they near maturity.
"The only thing positive (in wheat) has been short-covering by the funds and that kind of runs it course and runs out of gas,' said Bill Gentry, a broker at Risk Management Commodities in Lafayette, Indiana.
At 10:23 a.m. CDT (1523 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat for July delivery was 5-1/2 cents lower at $4.29 a bushel. The July contract traded at its lowest since Dec. 27 during the session.
CBOT July corn futures were down 1-3/4 cents at $3.66-1/2 a bushel. Corn prices hit their lowest since April 7.
CBOT May soybeans were up 1/4 cent at $9.50-1/2 a bushel.
The US Agriculture Department on Thursday morning said
weekly export sales of soybeans fell to 225,000 tonnes (old-crop and new-crop combined), below trade forecasts for 400,000 to 800,000 tonnes.
Corn export sales came in at 848,200 tonnes, near the low end of expectations. Export sales of wheat were 551,100 tonnes.
All three commodities firmed during overnight trading but excess supplies kept a bearish tone in place and pulled the market into negative territory shortly after the daytime opening.
"The market is still grappling with the enormous task of finding homes for season 2016 crops," said analyst Tobin Gorey of Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
"Season 2017 planting in the US Midwest has gotten off to a slower than normal start, but investors appear to have pared back their level of concern," he added.