Chicago soybeans, corn rally amid weaker dollar; wheat lower

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities closed mixed on Thursday with wheat extending its losses, and soybeans, corn rallying on the weak U.S. dollar.

The most active wheat contract for May delivery dropped 8.25 cents, or 1.75 percent, to close at 4.625 U.S. dollars per bushel. Meanwhile, soybean for May delivery added 3.25 cents, or 0.36 percent, to close at 8.9775 dollars per bushel. May corn delivery gained 0.25 cents, or 0.07 percent, to close at 3.685 U.S. dollars per bushel.

Chicago wheat extended its losses to a third session in a row Thursday, coming under pressure from wheat prices in France and the Black Sea area sliding. Analysts said exporters and producers there look to shed old crop stocks ahead of what looks to be a record large new crop harvest.

A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) showing export sales of the grain last week were in line with trade estimates.

The USDA said Thursday in its weekly export sales report that for the week ending March 10, the United States witnessed exports of wheat were unchanged from the previous week, but up 21 percent from the prior 4-week average.

Corn export sales were down 17 percent from the previous week, but up 4 percent from the prior 4-week average, while soybean exports fell by 28 percent from the previous week and 44 percent from the prior 4-week average, but U.S. domestic soybean demand for the week rose strongly from the previous week, according to the same report.

Analysts noted that U.S. crop export sales are still well below the level a year ago, but the sale shortfall versus last year has been narrowing in recent weeks.

Soybean and corn futures got more support from a weaker U.S. dollar on Thursday. The U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar against six major currencies, dropped by more than 1 percent in the morning session, lifting the appeal of dollar-denominated commodities. Enditem