Chicago agricultural commodities close mixed

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn and soybeans rebounded Thursday, while wheat was flat.

The most active corn contract for May delivery added 1.5 cents, or 0.41 percent, to close at 3.70 dollars per bushel. May wheat delivery was unchanged at 4.63 dollars per bushel. May soybeans advanced 5.25 cents, or 0.58 percent, to close at 9.105 dollars per bushel.

Soybean price led the gains on Thursday and analysts attributed the gain to improved export sales of soybean meal. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Thursday in its weekly export sale report that till the week of March 17, soybean meal net sales were 468,700 tons for 2015/2016 marketing year, which was a marketing-year high, and was also noticeably up from the previous week and from the prior 4-week average.

Corn was also supported on signs of global demand, according to analysts. USDA said on Thursday morning that private exporters reported export sales of 260,000 tons of corn for delivery to Taiwan.

The USDA said in its weekly export sale highlights that corn net sales till week of March 17 was 803,200 tons, down 35 percent from the previous week and 27 percent from the prior 4-week average; wheat net sales was 368,900 metric tons, up 73 percent from the previous week and 16 percent from the prior 4-week average; soybean net sales was 410,800 tons, down 34 percent from the previous week and 5 percent from the prior 4-week average. Endit