US soyabean futures hit a 3-1/2 week high on Tuesday on a mix of technical buying and forecasts for dry weather in the Midwest that could threaten late-season yield prospects, analysts said. Corn and wheat futures followed the higher trend. As of 12:46 pm CDT (1746 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade November soyabean futures were up 17 cents at $9.66-1/2 per bushel after reaching $9.73-1/2, its highest since August 10.
CBOT December corn was up 2-1/2 cents at $3.57-3/4 per bushel and December wheat was up 6 cents at $4.44-3/4 a bushel. Soyabeans led the way up, with the November contract forming a gap on its chart by opening above Friday's high, a bullish technical signal. "There is a lot of short-covering. Funds came into the week short, and we went above ... resistance, and hit a lot of buy-stops on the way up," said Brian Hoops, analyst with Midwest Market Solutions.
Weather forecasts called for dry conditions across much of the Midwest over the next 10 days, potentially stressing the maturing US soyabean crop. Additional support stemmed from stepped-up export demand from top global soya buyer China. The US Department of Agriculture on Tuesday said private exporters sold 136,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to China, following a string of similar sales announcements since mid-August.