Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures fell across the board on Tuesday, led by corn.
The most active corn contract for May delivery fell 4 cents, or 0.61 percent, to settle at 6.5375 U.S. dollars per bushel. May wheat lost 2 cents, or 0.29 percent, to settle at 6.915 dollars per bushel. May soybean shed 4.5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to settle at 15.175 dollars per bushel.
Wheat, corn and soybean futures sagged in a correction of the recent rally. The volume of CBOT trade is well below recent days as a three-day weekend looms and traders are adjusting their risk downwards.
Traders added to their selling as JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon hinted in an annual letter to shareholders that the world banking crisis is not over, and will cause repercussions for years to come.
A correction was needed. Ahead of a new Northern Hemisphere growing season, it is too early to be overly bearish. Chicago-based research company AgResource stays bullish on breaks.
U.S. hard red winter (HRW) wheat crop estimates will continue to decline amid the forecast of hot/dry weather into mid-April. The drought in U.S. Plains amplifies the importance of keeping open the Ukraine grain export corridor in mid-May.
It will be dry for the Plains over the next 10 days with strong winds forecast this weekend before high temperatures next week, which will add HRW wheat stress. The coming warmth will allow corn seeding in the Central United States on a timely basis across Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.
