Soybean futures remained under pressure on Friday amid an improving weather forecast for Brazil, while corn and wheat managed small gains.
Parts of central Brazil are expected to receive timely rainfall beginning Saturday and lasting through Tuesday, which is expected to bring at least some temporary relief for soybean crops that have been stressed by persistent warm, dry conditions. However, the forecast from World Weather Inc suggests the rainfall may not benefit all locations equally and there will be a need for continued follow-up precipitation. Some scattered showers are likely to continue during the middle to latter part of next week, the forecast said. January beans fell 17 ¾ cents to $13.25, and new-crop November was down 11 ¾ cents at $12.82 ¼.
Wheat futures, which got some support from short covering earlier in the week, got more of the same today to end the week. March Chicago wheat was up 4 ¾ cents to $6.02 ¾, March Kansas City was 3 ¾ cents higher at $6.46 ¾, and March Minneapolis inched up ¾ of a cent to $7.30 ¼.
Short covering also helped to boost corn, with March up 2 cents to $4.84 ¾, and new-crop December added 1 ½ cents to $5.13 ¾.
