(Reuters) – U.S. corn futures fell for a fourth consecutive session on Monday to linger near a three-year low as expectations for a bumper crop dragged on prices.
FUNDAMENTALS
Chicago Board Of Trade December corn fell 0.1 percent to $4.26-3/4 a bushel, having eased 0.2 percent in the previous session when the grain touched a three-year low of $4.25-3/4 a bushel.
January soybeans were little changed at $12.52-1/4 a bushel, having slid 1.2 percent on Friday.
According to preliminary results of a Reuters poll, most analysts are pegging this season’s corn crop at a record 13.8 billion bushels or more. The previous record crop was the 13.1 billion bushels produced four years ago.
Trade sources said Informa Economics on Friday pegged 2013 U.S. corn production at 14.223 billion bushels.
USDA attache in China forecast Chinese corn production in the 2013/14 marketing season at 210 million tonnes, 1 million tonnes lower than the last official USDA estimate but still a record crop.
MARKET NEWS
The euro languished at two-week lows early in Asia on Monday, having suffered its biggest drop in over a year last week as expectations grew the European Central Bank will be forced to cut interest rates to shore up growth.
Brent oil fell sharply on Friday, tumbling by nearly $3 a barrel, and settling at its lowest point since early July, narrowing its premium to U.S. crude in heavy selling.
U.S. stocks rose on Friday after surprisingly strong manufacturing data overshadowed expectations that the Federal Reserve might reduce stimulus earlier than expected.
