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Chicago commodities higher on slow farmers' selling, weak dollar

Xinhua, October 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) futures rose across the board on Friday as global farmers are slowing down the pace of selling grains, and the dollar showed weakness, lifting dollar-dominated agricultural commodities.

The most active corn contract for December delivery added 2.25 cents, or 0.59 percent, to close at 3.8225 U.S. dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery gained 7 cents, or 1.36 percent, to close at 5.22 dollars per bushel. January soybeans rallied 5.5 cents, or 0.62 percent, to close at 8.8575 dollars per bushel.

Chicago grains extended their rally although the pace of U.S. corn and wheat exports was well behind last year, and U.S. crop prices were still much higher than offers quoted by other world major exporters.

Analysts suggested that farmer retention of grain has been so dominant, not only in the United States, but also around the world. They said the hoarding has compressed commercial grain merchant margins and forced the cash market to pay up for supply.

Soybean futures snapped their two-day losing streak, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 120,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans were sold to China.

Meanwhile, a weak U.S. dollar also pushed CBOT corn, wheat and soybean futures higher.

Generally, a weaker U.S. dollar can be a positive for agricultural commodities priced in dollars because it makes them cheaper for non-dollar users, while a stronger dollar can weigh on commodities.

For the week, the most active corn contract for December delivery gained 0.66 percent, December wheat rose by 6.42 percent, while January soybeans lost 1.14 percent. Endit