CHICAGO, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures closed mixed on Thursday, with corn and soybean rising and wheat dropping.
The most active corn contract for March delivery rose 1.25 cents, or 0.19 percent, to settle at 6.425 U.S. dollars per bushel. March wheat fell 3.25 cents, or 0.43 percent, to settle at 7.4625 dollars per bushel. January soybean gained 14.25 cents, or 0.97 percent, to settle at 14.8625 dollars per bushel.
Market expectation is that U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will raise U.S. 2022-2023 corn end stocks amid a reduction in exports in its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report due out Friday. South America and Ukraine remain aggressive in corn export offers.
Argentine weather remains a big bullish factor, but the sheer size of the Brazilian soybean crop caps CBOT soybean rallies. U.S. wheat values have forged a seasonal low. Chicago-based research company AgResource holds that this is no place to be selling wheat.
USDA announced the sale of 718,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China and another 118,000 metric tons to an unknown destination. China has now secured 23.4 million metric tons or 859 million bushels of U.S. soybeans.
Weather forecast offers rain through the weekend across the northern two-thirds of Argentina. The rain also pushes into Paraguay and RGDS in Southern Brazil. Thereafter, the area will return to an arid upper air flow pattern with heat returning by the middle of next week. Near to above normal rain falls across Northern and Central Brazil.
