Chicago agricultural commodities settle mixed

CHICAGO, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains closed mixed on Friday with wheat futures suffering further losses due to profit-taking.

The most active corn contract for March delivery rose 0.25 cent, or 0.07 percent to settle at 3.5125 dollars per bushel. March wheat delivery went down 3.25 cents, or 0.75 percent to close at 4.3075 dollars per bushel. March soybeans climbed 3 cents, or 0.31 percent to settle at 9.7075 dollars per bushel.

Disappointing Argentine crop conditions and dry weather forecasts supported CBOT soybean futures, as Buenos Aries Grain Exchange estimated that only 53 percent of the soybean crop can be rated good or excellent with 27 percent of their soybean soil moisture being rated short.

However, the rally of soybeans and corn got limited by the disappointing U.S. export sales. According to official data released on Friday, for the week ending December 28, the export sales of all three key commodities--soybeans, wheat and corn were less than expected, even for a holiday-shortened week.

Meanwhile, profit-taking and warming weather in the southern U.S. Midwest and southern plains, dragged down CBOT wheat prices for the second consecutive session. Enditem