Chicago agricultural commodities settle lower

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures close lower on Monday with wheat futures falling 2 percent to their lowest in nearly three weeks, weakening on technical sales after firming briefly during the overnight trading session.

Corn and soybean futures also dropped to multi-week lows, with traders noting some end-month liquidation by investment funds.

The most active corn contract for May delivery fell 2.5 cent, or 0.67 percent, to 3.6825 dollars per bushel. May wheat delivery fell 9.25 cents, or 2.06 percent, to 4.3875 dollars per bushel. May soybeans dropped 2.25 cents, or 0.22 percent, to 10.22 dollars per bushel.

Wheat notched the biggest declines, with benign weather for crop development bolstering expectations that the upcoming harvest of the winter crop in the northern hemisphere will add to already ample supply.

CBOT May wheat firmed during the overnight session but turned lower after failing to hold support above its 30-day moving average. Losses accelerated after the contract dropped below its 40-day moving average before finding support near its 50-day moving average.

Declines were limited in the soybean market as farmers in Brazil have slowed sales of their record-large crop.

According to USDA' s weekly export inspections for the week ending Feb. 23, private sellers exported 57.4 million bushels of corn, 25.9 million bushels of soybeans, and 19.8 million bushels of wheat.

The corn exports were well above trade expectations, while wheat was at trader ideas, while soybeans were low, based on vessel loading. Endit