GRAINS-Soy, corn slip on profit taking, macro pressure; exports lift wheat
CHICAGO, Oct 13 (Reuters) – U.S. soybean futures retreated on Friday on profit-taking after hitting two-week highs in the previous session and as souring consumer sentiment and inflation worries hung over the market.
Corn futures followed soybeans lower, but wheat rallied after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported stronger-than-expected weekly export sales and confirmed a large sale to China.
U.S. corn and soybean harvest downgrades in a monthly USDA report on Thursday had lifted some grain and soy contracts to multi-week highs, leaving the market vulnerable to a profit-taking pullback ahead of the weekend.
“The pullback today has a lot to do with the negative consumer sentiment … and the macro sentiment that we are going to lose demand worldwide,” said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics.
“The trade, because of those outside market factors, are taking some profit off the table.”
Soybean export news was mixed as the USDA announced another daily “flash” sale and reported stronger-than-expected weekly sales last week, but China’s customs data showed a sharp drop in soy imports.
Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans SX3 fell 9-3/4 cents to $12.80-1/4 a bushel after hitting technical resistance at the prior-session high and the key $13 level. The benchmark contract, however, gained 1.1% in the week for its first weekly gain in seven weeks.
December corn CZ3 shed 2-3/4 cents to settle at $4.93-1/4 a bushel. But the contract added 0.3% in the week.
CBOT December wheat WZ3 touched a 2-1/2 week high and settled up 8-1/4 cents at $5.79-3/4 a bushel. The benchmark contract notched its second straight weekly gain, adding 2%.
Wheat got a lift after a USDA report showed the strongest week of export sales in more than a year and the agency confirmed another rare sale of soft red winter wheat to China.
(Additional reporting by Peter Hobson in Canberra and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Rashmi Aich, David Evans, Jonathan Oatis and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
((karl.plume@thomsonreuters.com; +1 313 484 5285))
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