Chicago agricultural commodities settle mixed

CHICAGO, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains closed mixed on Monday following an up-and-down session.

The most active corn contract for March delivery fell 5.25 cents, or 1.46 percent to close at 3.535 dollars per bushel. March wheat delivery went down 3.25 cents, or 0.74 percent, to 4.3525 dollars per bushel. January soybeans rose 4.25 cents, or 0.43 percent to 9.985 dollars per bushel.

CBOT brokers reported that funds bought 4,700 contracts of soybeans while selling 12,000 contracts of corn and 1,200 contracts of wheat.

Almost all the futures opened higher in morning trading amid concerns about dry weather in South America, which will not be conducive to the growth of crops.

But the corn reversed from early gains as a result of massive selling by funds and settled more than one percent lower.

CBOT wheat futures also saw a fluctuating session on Monday, starting out green but sliding into the red.

However, the settlements appeared to be in parallel to the latest trend of U.S. crop exports.

For the week ending November 30, the U.S. exported 23.1 million bushels of corn, 15 million bushels of wheat and 66.2 million bushels of soybeans. The corn and wheat exports were below the levels of trade expectations. Enditem