GRAINS-Soybeans Fall for 2nd Day on Supply Pressure, Weaker Brazilian Real
(Reuters) – Chicago soybeans slid 1 percent on Thursday, down a second session as pressure from a weaker Brazilian real is likely to prompt farmers to sell their freshly harvested record crop.
Corn and wheat also eased on plentiful supplies, with additional pressure from investors cutting risk exposure as the U.S. political crisis appeared to deepen.
The Chicago Board Of Trade most-active soybean contract fell 1 percent to $9.65-3/4 a bushel by 0319 GMT after closing marginally lower on Wednesday.
Corn lost 0.7 percent to $3.68-3/4 a bushel, having gained 1 percent in the previous session. Wheat gave up 0.4 percent to $4.25-1/2 a bushel, having closed up 0.6 percent the day before.
“The Brazilian crop is getting bigger, we hear everyday people increasing their estimates. The top-end of the estimate is around 113 million tonnes, which is huge,” said one agricultural commodities analyst.
“There is no reason for soybeans to rally. We also have risk-off trade because of the U.S. political crisis.”
Asian stocks fell on Thursday and the dollar was stuck near six-month lows against a basket of currencies as uncertainty mounted over U.S. President Donald Trump’s future following reports that he allegedly tried to interfere with a federal investigation.
Soybeans were weighed down by a weaker Brazilian real, which is expected encourage farmers to sell their ample supplies. The currency eased after a six-session advance that had discouraged growers from selling their dollar-denominated stocks.
On the physical front, trade news supported U.S. wheat. Egypt’s main state wheat buyer purchased two cargoes of U.S. hard red winter wheat in an international tender along with cargoes from Romania, Ukraine and Russia. Egypt’s General Authority for Supply Commodities said it bought a total of 295,000 tonnes of wheat.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn and wheat futures contracts on Wednesday and small net sellers in soybeans, traders said.
