GRAINS-Wheat Hits 6-Day Low, Set to Fall for Third Straight Session

(Reuters) –  U.S. wheat prices were set to drop for a third straight session on Monday after hitting a six-day low, with ample global supply weighing on markets.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.5 percent to $4.45-3/4 a bushel, after earlier touching their lowest since Feb. 21 at $4.45-1/2 a bushel. Wheat closed down 1.2 percent on Friday.

The most active soybeans futures rose 0.22 percent to $10.26-1/2 a bushel, having firmed 1.3 percent on Friday.

The most active corn futures were little changed at $3.63-3/4, after closing down 0.4 percent in the previous session.

Weekly data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed non-commercial traders in the week to Feb. 14 built their biggest net long since July in corn, and the second-biggest since July in soybeans.

Argentina will likely harvest a record 18.3 million tonnes of wheat from the 2016/17 crop, 11 to 11.5 million tonnes of which could be exported, Agriculture Minister Ricardo Buryaile said.

The U.S. government projected a 7 percent decline in corn production in the 2017/18 marketing year to 14.065 billion bushels, but ending stocks were expected to remain burdensome at more than 2 billion bushels.

MARKET NEWS

The euro got off to an unusually quiet start in Asia on Monday, having posted its worst weekly performance in three months, as investors await more developments and ratings downgrades from Europe.

Brent oil prices edged up on Monday and were set to rise for five out of seven sessions as a global supply glut appears to ease, but rising U.S. production limited gains.