Wheat came roaring back and canola, soybeans and corn also rose Wednesday on a generally up day in North American crop markets, which were supported by strong crude oil and a weaker U.S. dollar.
A short covering rally caused Chicago wheat to recover most of the ground lost on Tuesday following the USDA planting intentions report.
Nearby Chicago wheat jumped up 3.4 percent and Minneapolis spring wheat climbed 2.6 percent.
Canola followed soybeans higher. Soy was supported by the USDA report that found soybean acreage intentions this spring are about 1.5 million acres less than what the trade expected.
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The USDA report also showed that American farmers intend to seed less canola this year.
Yesterday, corn dragged wheat down, but today wheat’s rally lifted corn. Bargain buying also supported corn.
Corn was depressed Tuesday when USDA’s planting intentions report showed more corn acreage than expected and larger than expected March 1 stocks.
In more detail, speculators who held a large short position in wheat took advantage of a 3.5 percent drop on Tuesday to unwind some of those bearish bets, Reuters said.
Chicago May wheat broke through resistance at its 50-day moving average, spurring technical buying.
Concerns about dryness in the U.S. Plains also were supportive.
Analysts were expecting a U.S. Agriculture Department report on Thursday to show old-crop export sales of wheat in the week ended March 26 in a range from 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes.
They say big crops get bigger and that is the case with Argentina’s 2014-15 soy harvest.
The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange today increased its estimate to 58.5 million tonnes, up from its previous 57 million-tonne estimate.
The 58.5 million is 2.5 million more than the current USDA forecast.
Seven percent of the crop had been harvested, the exchange reported.
The exchange also increased its corn crop forecast to 23 million tonnes from 22.5 million. USDA’s forecast is 23.5 million.
Just over 11 percent of the corn area had been harvested.
Light crude oil nearby futures in New York were up $2.49 to US$50.09 per barrel.
The weekly U.S. oil production report declined for the first time since January and gasoline stocks were less than expected. The number of active drilling rigs in the US dropped to fewest since March 2011.
Oil prices recently have been under pressure on ideas that if talks with Iran over its nuclear program are successful, the restrictions on its oil exports will be lifted, putting an additional one million barrels of crude on the market each day.
The Canadian dollar at noon was US79.29 cents, up from 78.85 cents the previous trading day. The U.S. dollar at noon was C$1.2612.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed up 40.11 points, or 0.27 percent, at 14,942.55.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 78.2 points, or 0.44 percent, to 17,697.92, the S&P 500 lost 8.2 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,059.69 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 20.66 points, or 0.42 percent, to 4,880.23.
Winnipeg ICE Futures Canada dollars per tonne
Canola May 2015 460.30 +5.00 +1.10%
Canola Jul 2015 459.70 +5.30 +1.17%
Canola Nov 2015 451.60 +4.80 +1.07%
Canola Jan 2016 452.60 +4.10 +0.91%
Canola Mar 2016 453.20 +3.70 +0.82%
Milling Wheat May 2015 241.00 +6.00 +2.55%
Milling Wheat Jul 2015 238.00 +5.00 +2.15%
Milling Wheat Oct 2015 239.00 +5.00 +2.14%
Durum Wheat May 2015 323.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Jul 2015 313.00 unch 0.00%
Durum Wheat Oct 2015 318.00 unch 0.00%
Barley May 2015 204.00 +1.00 +0.49%
Barley Jul 2015 204.00 +1.00 +0.49%
Barley Oct 2015 189.00 +1.00 +0.53%
American crop prices in cents US/bushel, soybean meal in $US/short ton, soy oil in cents US/pound
Chicago
Soybeans May 2015 989.75 +16.5 +1.70%
Soybeans Jul 2015 994.5 +16.75 +1.71%
Soybeans Aug 2015 994 +16.75 +1.71%
Soybeans Sep 2015 980.5 +16.25 +1.69%
Soybeans Nov 2015 972.75 +17.5 +1.83%
Soybeans Jan 2016 977.75 +17.75 +1.85%
Soybean Meal May 2015 331.9 +5.1 +1.56%
Soybean Meal Jul 2015 330.7 +5.5 +1.69%
Soybean Meal Aug 2015 329.1 +5.4 +1.67%
Soybean Oil May 2015 30.69 +0.3 +0.99%
Soybean Oil Jul 2015 30.91 +0.29 +0.95%
Soybean Oil Aug 2015 30.99 +0.29 +0.94%
Corn May 2015 381.75 +5.5 +1.46%
Corn Jul 2015 390 +5.75 +1.50%
Corn Sep 2015 397.75 +5.75 +1.47%
Corn Dec 2015 406.75 +6 +1.50%
Corn Mar 2016 416.25 +6.25 +1.52%
Oats May 2015 262 -2.75 -1.04%
Oats Jul 2015 263 -3.75 -1.41%
Oats Sep 2015 265.5 -4.75 -1.76%
Oats Dec 2015 268.75 -4.75 -1.74%
Oats Mar 2016 277 -4.25 -1.51%
Wheat May 2015 528.5 +16.75 +3.27%
Wheat Jul 2015 529.5 +15.5 +3.02%
Wheat Sep 2015 538 +15.5 +2.97%
Wheat Dec 2015 552 +14.75 +2.75%
Wheat Mar 2016 565.5 +14.5 +2.63%
Minneapolis
Spring Wheat May 2015 590.5 +14.5 +2.52%
Spring Wheat Jul 2015 594.5 +14 +2.41%
Spring Wheat Sep 2015 601.75 +13.5 +2.29%
Spring Wheat Dec 2015 612.5 +13.75 +2.30%
Spring Wheat Mar 2016 624.25 +14.25 +2.34%
Kansas City
Hard Red Wheat May 2015 572 +12.75 +2.28%
Hard Red Wheat Jul 2015 575.75 +12 +2.13%
Hard Red Wheat Sep 2015 586.25 +13.25 +2.31%
Hard Red Wheat Dec 2015 600.5 +14 +2.39%
Hard Red Wheat Mar 2016 610.75 +11.75 +1.96%
