Chicago agricultural commodities settle mixed

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures settled mixed Wednesday, with corn and soybean futures extending losses as projected record U.S. harvests weighed on prices for the crops.

However, wheat firmed on short-covering, with the December contract reaching its highest level in nearly two weeks, before paring gains.

The most active corn contract for December delivery fell 2.75 cents, or 0.79 percent, to 3.4625 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery added 3.5 cents, or 0.84 percent, to 4.1775 dollars per bushel. January soybeans fell 6.75 cents, or 0.68 percent, to 9.865 dollars per bushel.

Soybean prices led the way lower, falling for a second consecutive session amid growing expectations that upcoming government forecasts for the U.S. crop would show farmers reaped a bigger haul this year than expected.

Private firm INTL FCStone recently projected the U.S. soybean crop would reach 4.386 billion bushels on yields of 52.8 bushels an acre, analysts said, which beats the U.S. Department of Agriculture's October forecast for 4.269 billion bushels and yields of 51.4 bushels per acre.

Favorable growing conditions in Brazil, a key world producer of the oilseeds, also added to negative sentiment in the market.

Corn fell despite supportive weekly U.S. ethanol data. The U.S. Energy Administration showed an increase in production and smaller stockpiles of corn-based ethanol in the latest week.

Wheat prices rose, lifted in part by concerns that poor weather globally could dent output of the crop. Endit