CBOT wheat posts losses amid improved weather

CHICAGO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities closed lower on Tuesday with wheat futures seeing more than 1 percent decline as rain started to fall on the dry U.S. plains.

The most active corn contract for May delivery remained unchanged at 3.74 dollars per bushel. May wheat delivery lost 5.25 cents, or 1.16 percent to close at 4.49 dollars per bushel. May soybeans were down 6 cents, or 0.59 percent to settle at 10.195 dollars per bushel.

CBOT brokers reported that funds bought 2,100 contracts of corn, 1,100 contracts of wheat, while being flat in soybeans.

Rainfall in the mid-south plains is expected to ease the dryness there and improve crop conditions, said market observers.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some 13 percent of the hard-red winter wheat crop in Kansas State, the biggest U.S. producer of the grain, was rated good or excellent as of March 25, up from 11 percent a week earlier.

Some 49 percent of the crop was rated poor or very poor, compared to 55 percent in the previous week.

As a result, the CBOT wheat futures on Tuesday suffered another more-than-one-percent decline for the second consecutive day. Enditem