Wheat falls to two-month low on U.S. rains
Category: Grains
(Reuters) – U.S. wheat futures fell as much as 1.5 percent on Tuesday to a two-month low, as heavy rains across the southern plains provided much needed moisture to crops that have wilted under dry weather in recent weeks.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Chicago Board Of Trade July wheat fell 1 percent to $6.46-1/4 a bushel, having hit a low of $6.41-1/4 a bushel, the lowest since March 6. Wheat closed down 1 percent on Friday.
* July corn fell 1 percent to $4.73-1/2 a bushel, just above the session low of $4.72 a bushel, the lowest since March 4. Corn gained 0.26 percent in the previous session.
* July soybeans rose 0.28 percent to $15.11-1/4 a bushel, having slid 0.21 percent on Friday.
* Wheat under pressure as Southern Plains receive much needed rain, with the U.S. National Weather Service pegging some parts of the region recording as much as two inches of rain in recent days.
* With prolonged drought, the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week pegged the condition of the winter wheat crop at 29 percent good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier.
* The rains will aid newly planted corn. The USDA also said the corn crop was 73 percent planted as of Sunday, just behind the seasonal average of 76 percent.
* China has imported a small amount of corn from Brazil since official approval for the purchases went into effect on March 31, the Asian country’s ambassador said on Monday.
MARKET NEWS
* The euro struggled to gain any momentum early in Asia on Tuesday after drifting off a three-month low against the dollar with public holidays in the United States and Britain all but ensuring an anaemic session overnight.
* Brent crude eased to near $110 a barrel on Monday, down from last week’s two-and-a-half month high, as worries over Ukraine eased slightly following a presidential election.
* The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Friday, buoyed by a rally in housing stocks after better-than-expected home sales and a jump in Hewlett-Packard shares a day after the personal computer maker said it would cut more jobs.
