Corn and soybean futures finished modestly higher on Thursday, while wheat moved lower as technical selling outweighed continued support from tensions in the Black Sea region.
Corn edged upward despite a mixed weekly export sales report. The USDA's weekly export sales report this morning showed bookings of U.S. old-crop corn at 116,740 tonnes for the week ended July 30, below trade expectations and a marketing year low. However, new-crop sales were stronger at 1.027 million tonnes, near the upper end of expectations. That business helped offset the disappointing old-crop figure and provided modest support to prices. September was up 2 ¼ cents at $4.39, and December added 2 cents to $4.62.
Soybeans also closed slightly higher after exporters reported a private sale of 122,000 tonnes to China for delivery during the 2026-27 marketing year. Weekly old-crop soybean sales were weak at just 32,157 tonnes, below expectations. New-crop sales reached 903,920 tonnes, near the bottom of expectations and the lowest total in four weeks. September beans gained 3 ½ cents to $11.60, and November was up 3 cents at $11.77 ¾.
Wheat futures declined, reportedly under pressure from technical selling. Weekly export sales totalled 296,427 tonnes, toward the lower end of trade estimates ranging from 250,000 to 450,000 tonnes. September Chicago lost 11 cents to $6.31 ¼, and September Kansas City dropped 13 ¾ cents to $6.99 ¾. September Hard Red Spring and September Minneapolis both fell 12 ½ cents to end at $6.75 and $6.71, respectively.
