US soyabean futures turned higher on Thursday and were poised to snap a three-session slide while corn and wheat rebounded from contract lows as fund-driven selling paused and forecasts signaled more US planting delays, traders said. As of 12:55 p.m. CDT (1755 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) July soyabeans were up 3-3/4 cents at $8.72-1/2 per bushel. CBOT July corn was up 1-1/2 cents at $3.57-1/2 a bushel after falling to a contract low at $3.51-1/2, and July wheat was up 3 cents at $4.41-1/2 a bushel after recording a contract low at $4.34-1/2.
CBOT soyameal futures posted the biggest percentage gains in the soya complex, lifting soyabeans. Front-month CBOT soyameal was up $5.20 at $305.60 per short ton, rallying after dipping below $300 for the first time since March.
"It's just a technical rebound," said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst with Futures International in Chicago.
"Plus, there is this ongoing talk that the near-term weather forecast is not good for producers to plant. When you see delays in corn, you start shaving off some yields from your outlook for certain areas," Reilly said. Forecasts called for above-normal precipitation across much of the United States over the next 15 days, Maxar, a space technology company, said in a midday weather note.
Slowed by excessive moisture over the winter and early spring, farmers had planted 6 percent of the US corn crop as of April 21, behind the five-year average of 12 percent, the US Department of Agriculture said this week. Soyabean seeding was just 1 percent complete.
Despite the slow start to planting, CBOT corn and soya futures have been under pressure all week as commodity funds add to sizable net short positions against a backdrop of ample domestic and world supplies.
A stronger dollar, which makes US grains less competitive globally, added to bearish sentiment.