Chicago | Reuters – Chicago corn and soybean futures steadied on a technical bounce on Wednesday after sliding to their lowest since October this week, with traders weighing larger-than-anticipated U.S. supply forecasts, Chinese demand and crop prospects in South America.
Wheat futures were little changed as the market also paused following losses triggered by U.S. Department of Agriculture crop data on Monday.
“We ran out of some selling and we’re now seeing a bounce, but it’s nothing more than that. Whether the cat is dead or alive, we’ll have to see in a day or two,” said Dan Basse, president of AgResource, referring to a so-called dead cat bounce, a market phenomenon in which an asset recovers briefly amid a long decline.
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An easing dollar and strength across commodity markets, supported by geopolitical turbulence, also helped underpin grains, analysts said.
The most-active soybean contract Sv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade settled 3-3/4 cents higher at $10.42-1/2 per bushel, after reaching its lowest since October 23 in the previous session.
CBOT corn Cv1 settled up 2-1/4 cents to $4.22 per bushel, after dropping to its weakest since October 16 on Tuesday. CBOT wheat Wv1 settled 2 cents higher at $5.12-1/2 per bushel, steadying after a two-session fall.
The USDA surprised grain markets on Monday by increasing its estimate to a record 2025 U.S. corn harvest, while also pegging U.S. quarterly stocks of the cereal at their largest ever.
In a series of crop reports, the agency also estimated the last U.S. soybean harvest was larger than many traders and analysts had expected. At the same time, it cut its U.S. export outlook and raised its estimate for Brazil’s harvest.
The soybean market nonetheless found some support in ongoing demand from China, as Beijing books U.S. supplies under a trade truce with Washington agreed in late October, though an expected record harvest in Brazil may soon dent Chinese demand for U.S. soybeans.
-Additional reporting by Daphne Zhang by Beijing, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris
