Chicago soybean higher on US-China trade hopes
PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean prices ticked up on Wednesday to hold close to a two-week high, as investors cautiously welcomed news that US and Chinese officials agreed on a framework to preserve a truce in their countries' trade war.
Corn and wheat also edged higher, with corn moving away from a six-month low and wheat from a near two-week low on Tuesday, though favourable US and global production prospects continued to curb the cereal markets. Price moves were limited, with traders awaiting more details on the outcome of the US-Chinese talks and watching for US inflation data later on Wednesday. Grain markets are also turning their attention to monthly US Department of Agriculture world crop forecasts on Thursday.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2% at $10.59-3/4 per bushel by 1050 GMT, near Tuesday's peak that was the highest since May 28. 'The soybean market has stabilised. We're going to have to wait to see what happens next in the trade talks,' Argus Media analyst Maxence Devillers said.
China is the world's biggest soybean importer, while the United States is the No. 2 exporter of the oilseed. Chinese retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural goods have curbed soybean trade, with Brazil dominating record Chinese soybean imports in May.
After a bumper Brazilian harvest, a good start to the US growing season was also hanging over the soybean market.
In cereals, CBOT wheat added 0.2% to $5.35-3/4 a bushel, after slipping to its lowest since May 29 on Tuesday, while corn gained 0.7% to $4.42 a bushel after reaching its weakest level since Dec. 5 in the previous session. Wheat prices came under pressure after the US Department of Agriculture raised its ratings for both spring and winter wheat crops, tempering concerns about rain damage in the run-up to harvesting. Supply prospects have also been bolstered by a satisfactory crop outlook in top wheat exporter Russia.
'There's not much to make prices rebound at the moment when you look at fundamentals, the crop outlook is decent,' Devillers said of wheat.
In corn, brisk US exports were lending some support, but the feed grain market was also pressured by favourable crop conditions in both the United States and Brazil.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Gold tops 1-month high as Middle East tensions spur safe-haven demand
Gold prices climbed on Friday to their highest point in more than a month, on track for a weekly gain, as investors sought safe-haven assets after Israel's strike on Iran heightened Middle East tensions. Spot gold was up 1.3% at $3,428.28 an ounce, as of 0134 GMT, after hitting its highest level since May 7 earlier in the session. Bullion has gained more than 3.5% so far this week. US gold futures gained 1.4% to $3,449.60. Geopolitical tensions escalated after Israel struck Iran as tensions mounted over U.S. efforts to halt Iran's production of atomic bomb materials. 'This latest spike in hostilities in the Middle East has taken the focus off trade negotiations for now, with investors making a play towards safe-haven assets in response,' said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. Israel declared a state of emergency, citing expected missile and drone attacks from Tehran, and the U.S. military is preparing for various contingencies in the Middle East, including potential assistance with evacuating American civilians, a U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. 'Gold surged past resistance around the $3400 on news of the airstrikes, and further upside could be in-store should the escalation continue,' Waterer said. Signaling a cooling U.S. labor market and subdued inflation pressures, the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits held at an eight-month high last week, while slowing domestic demand helped to restrain producer prices in May. Gold prices remain stable in Pakistan The data released a day after the Labor Department reported a moderate rise in consumer prices in May, bolstered expectations of an earlier rate cut. Traders are now expecting a 55-basis-point rate cut by the year-end, starting in September rather than October as previously anticipated. Elsewhere, spot silver edged down 0.1% at $36.33 per ounce, platinum fell 0.8% to $1,285.21, while palladium was steady at $1,055.21. All three metals were headed for weekly gain.
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Stocks slide, oil and gold jump after Israel strikes Iran
TOKYO: Stocks dived in early Asian trade on Friday, led by a selloff in U.S. futures, while oil prices jumped after Israel conducted a military strike on Iran, sending investors scurrying to safe havens such as gold and the Swiss franc. The Israeli attack raises the risk of a fresh escalation in tensions in the Middle East, a major oil producing region, and comes at a time of heightened pressure on the global economy and financial markets from U.S. President Donald Trump's shakeup of trade policies. Market reaction was swift, with U.S. S&P E-mini futures slumping 1.5% as of 0055 GMT and Nasdaq futures skidding 1.7%. Japan's Nikkei lost 1.4% and South Korea's KOSPI slipped 1.2%. Brent crude jumped more than 6% to $73.56 per barrel. Gold climbed 1% to about $3,419 per ounce. Israel said it was declaring a state of emergency in anticipation of a missile and drone strike by Tehran, after what it called a 'preemptive strike' over Iran's nuclear programme. Explosions were heard northeast of Iran's capital Tehran early on Friday, the state-run Nour News said. Two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said Israel had begun carrying out strikes on Iran and there was no U.S. assistance or involvement in the operation. CNN reported that Trump was convening a cabinet meeting. 'Traders are scurrying for safety as reports of a strike on Iran cross the wires,' said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto. 'But details on the scale and magnitude of the attack remain scarce and moves have been relatively limited thus far.' Stocks offer restrained response to US-China trade framework Tensions had been building as Trump's efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked. U.S. and Iranian officials were scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's escalating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday, according to officials from both countries and their Omani mediators. The Swiss franc gained about 0.4% to 0.8072 per U.S. dollar, and fellow safe haven the yen appreciated 0.3% to 143.06 per dollar. The euro eased 0.3% to $1.1553, giving back a little of its 0.9% overnight jump.
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Dollar and other safe havens rise as Israel strikes Iran
The US dollar rallied alongside the safe-haven Japanese yen and Swiss franc, with currency markets abruptly reversing direction on news Israel had launched strikes on Iran. Israel has begun carrying out strikes on Iran, two US officials told Reuters, adding that there was no U.S. assistance or involvement in the operation. Another report suggested that explosions were heard northeast of Iran's capital Tehran. An index that measures the dollar against six other currencies gained 0.4%, and was last at 98.07, in early Asia trading. Against the yen, the dollar slipped 0.35% to 143 per dollar , while the Swiss franc tumbled 0.39% to 0.807 per dollar. US dollar sinks as inflation cools Risk-sensitive Asian currencies such as the Aussie dollar and the New Zealand dollar weakened 0.9% each. Earlier in the week, the dollar index hit multi-year lows as investors were not impressed by a US-China trade truce, while cooler-than-expected inflation data fuelled expectations of more aggressive interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The dollar is on track for weekly declines against the yen, the Swiss franc and the euro. Crude prices , jumped more than $4 on the news as investors priced in potential supply disruptions from the oil-rich region, while gold prices climbed 0.8% to their strongest since early May.
