Friday 2 November 2012

Soy falls, corn set for biggest weekly gain in 3 months

Fri Nov 2, 2012
* Soybeans fall as U.S. non-farm payrolls data inspire market caution

* Corn falls, but on course for biggest weekly gain in 3 months

* Wheat falls, flat for the week, despite global stock concerns
By Colin Packham
SYDNEY, Nov 2 (Reuters) - U.S. soybeans edged lower on Friday, giving back some gains from the previous two sessions, as traders' appetite for risk in commodity markets ebbed ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data.

Corn fell for the second straight session but remains on course for its biggest weekly gain in three months, while wheat slid, giving up all the gains it achieved on Thursday.

Chicago Board of Trade January soybeans fell 0.54 percent to $15.51-1/2 a bushel by 0313 GMT, having closed up 0.74 percent on Thursday.

December corn fell 0.37 percent to $7.48-1/4 a bushel after sliding 0.63 percent in the previous session. Despite the two-day fall, corn is up 1.46 percent for the week, its biggest weekly rise since August 5.

December wheat slid 0.46 percent to $8.64-1/2 a bushel, giving back all its gains from the previous session.

"There's always some squaring of positions ahead of key data, and I think we are seeing some of that today," Graydon Chong, grains analysts at Rabobank, said.

The U.S. Labor Department will release the October jobs report later in the day. A Reuters poll puts the increase in U.S. jobs at 125,000 in October, up from 114,000 in September and the jobless rate to tick up to 7.9 percent from a near four-year low of 7.8 percent.

SOUTH AMERICAN CONCERNS

Although soybeans and corn fell, both continue to receive support from concerns a bumper South American crop will fail to materialise as wet weather delays planting.

INTL FCStone said it raised its forecast for U.S. 2012 soybean production to 2.959 billion bushels, from 2.849 billion last month. The firm estimated the U.S. soybean yield at 39.1 bushels per acre, up from 38.2 previously.

The brokerage pegged the U.S. corn harvest at 10.881 billion bushels, up slightly from its previous estimate of 10.824 billion, and raised its estimate of the corn yield to 124.0 bushels per acre from 123.9 last month.

RUSSIAN WHEAT FORECASTS CHECKED

Analysts remained concerned that global wheat stocks remain extremely tight with cuts to projected Russian supply, while U.S. and Australian wheat conditions suffer.

Agricultural analysts SovEcon cut their forecast for Russia's 2012 wheat crop to 37.5 million tonnes, from 38 million previously, to reflect weak harvest data, SovEcon's chief executive said.

  Grains prices at  0313 GMT
  Contract        Last    Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg MA 30   RSI
  CBOT wheat     864.50    -4.00  -0.46%    +0.00%     869.07   48
  CBOT corn      748.25    -2.75  -0.37%    -0.99%     747.93   51
  CBOT soy      1551.50    -8.50  -0.54%    +0.19%    1550.64   52
  CBOT rice      $15.07   -$0.01  -0.03%    -0.46%     $15.35   43
  WTI crude      $86.83   -$0.26  -0.30%    +0.68%     $89.71   41
  Currencies                                               
  Euro/dlr       $1.293  -$0.001  -0.08%    -0.21%
  USD/AUD         1.039   -0.001  -0.06%    +0.18%
  Most active contracts
  Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
  RSI 14, exponential

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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