Wheat Rebounds on Dryness Worries
September 22 2020 - 3:45PM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
-- Wheat for December delivery rose 0.6% to $5.58 a bushel on
the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday in reaction to dryness in the
U.S. and South America possibly impacting the planting of winter
wheat crops.
-- Corn for December delivery fell 0.1% to $3.69 1/4 a
bushel.
-- Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.3% to $10.19 3/4 a
bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Parched: Dry weather was a topic at the forefront of markets
Tuesday, driving CBOT wheat futures higher, said Rich Nelson of
Allendale Inc. "In the trades' mindset, they're hyped on plains
dryness and the situation in South America," said Mr. Nelson.
Hot and dry weather is expected to slow down the planting of
U.S. winter wheat, with the USDA reporting Monday that 20% of the
expected crop has been planted thus far, which is roughly the
average pace.
Meanwhile, a tender for wheat by Egypt also grabbed trader
attention Tuesday, with Russian wheat presenting the cheapest bids
ranging from $242 a ton to $252 a ton, according to The Wall Street
Journal.
Turnaround Tuesday?: Grain futures started Tuesday trading
higher across the board, a bounce after coronavirus fears sent
overall markets down Monday.
"Turnaround Tuesday this morning in the ag markets with USD
lower and WTI crude higher," said Terry Reilly of Futures
International.
Corn and soybean futures eventually turned downward throughout
the day, as the U.S. dollar resumed its strengthening. The USD
index trading on the Intercontinental Exchange is currently up
0.3%.
INSIGHTS
Shopping Spree: The string of Chinese purchases of U.S.
agriculture exports continued Tuesday, with the USDA confirming
that China has bought 140,000 metric tons of corn and 266,000 tons
of soybeans. Additionally, 320,000 tons of corn were sold to
unknown destinations, as well as 264,000 tons of soybeans.
Grains traders were happy to see the streak of purchasing --
dating back to the beginning of the month -- continue, but the
correction for soybean futures extended Tuesday after the
most-active contract hit its highest levels in over two years last
week.
"The bean outlook is supportive on improved demand from China as
well as the need to add some risk premium ahead of the South
American growing season, but the market was overheated and in need
of a correction," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives.
Still Interested: Soybean futures may be sliding this week, but
it appears that managed money funds are still comfortable staying
long in soybeans, which may indicate rising soybean prices have a
ways to go until they hit a top.
"Soybean open interest rose to 974,373 contracts on Monday,
which was just below the record open interest posted in April 2017
at 782,718 contracts," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX, adding that
this was the 20th consecutive trading day in which open interest
rose for soybeans.
"Rising prices with rising open interest is one of the signs we
look for in a bull market," said Mr. Suderman. "That doesn't tell
you how high prices will go, but it does suggest some momentum
behind the move."
AHEAD:
-- The EIA is scheduled to release its weekly update on ethanol
production and inventories at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday.
-- The USDA is due to release its latest weekly export sales
numbers at 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.
-- The USDA is scheduled to release its quarterly hogs and pigs
report at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 22, 2020 15:30 ET (19:30 GMT)
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