SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat was little changed on Friday after dropping to a four-month low earlier in the session, pressured by plentiful global supplies and an improved weather outlook for the winter crop in the United States.
Soybeans ticked higher, recouping the previous session´s decline, although slowing demand for U.S. shipments kept a lid on the market while corn edged up after dropping more than 1 percent on Thursday.
For the week, the July wheat contract has given up almost 5 percent, the biggest weekly decline in eight months.
Corn has lost 3.7 percent after gaining almost 3 percent last week, and soybeans are down 0.7 percent, giving up some of last week´s gains.
The wheat market on Thursday suffered its biggest daily loss since late August. Large export surpluses in key global suppliers are shackling Chicago wheat futures.
The market absorbed weather forecasts for the U.S. Plains and Midwest that were largely favourable for winter wheat crops as they near maturity. "The U.S. winter wheat crop is looking really good.
Weather concerns had been overplayed earlier," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank. "We are looking at another great year for wheat supplies even though U.S. acreage is down. Yields are looking really good." The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday said weekly export sales of soybeans fell to 225,000 tonnes (old-crop and new-crop combined), below trade forecasts for 400,000 to 800,000 tonnes.