GRAINS-WHEAT FALLS, SET TO FINISH THE WEEK DOWN MORE THAN 3 PCT

(Agriculture.com) – U.S. wheat futures edged lower on
Friday, putting the grain on track for a weekly loss of more
than 3 percent as forecasts for more favourable weather across
North America eased fears about lower global production.

FUNDAMENTALS
* The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board Of
Trade eased 0.1 percent on Friday and were on track for
the first weekly fall in three weeks.
* The most active soybean futures edged up, but are
down nearly 2 percent for the week after closing up 4.3 percent
last week.
* The most active corn futures also rose, but are down
more than 2.5 percent for the week so far, the biggest weekly
loss since August 2017.
* Soybeans have been pressured by heightened fears of a
global trade war, triggered after the United States said it
would impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from Canada,
Mexico and the European Union.
* Wheat has been on a rising trend amid fears that adverse
weather will curb global output, although weather forecasts
across the United States have eased fears slightly.
* Russia is expected to reduce its 2018 crop of winter wheat
and rye by around 10 percent from a year ago due to dry weather,
a state weather forecaster said.

MARKET NEWS
* The euro is poised for its first weekly gain in seven
weeks on Friday as worries over Italy’s political crisis ease,
but the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso were hit when
Washington lifted exemptions from tariffs on imported steel.

* U.S. crude oil steadied on Friday after deep losses in the
previous session on pressure from all-time high U.S. production
and expectations of higher OPEC output.
* U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after the United States moved
to impose tariffs on metal imports from Canada, Mexico and the
European Union, prompting retaliatory measures from some of its
trading partners.