Soybeans, corn, wheat edge lower on technical selling

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SINGAPORE — Chicago soybean futures inched lower in early Asian trading on Wednesday, amid technical selling, even as dry weather conditions in top producer Argentina posed supply concerns.

Wheat inched lower, ending a two-session rally, while corn fell for a second consecutive session.

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FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) dipped 0.2% to $15.35-3/4 a bushel, as of 0240 GMT.

* Wheat gave up 0.1% to $7.60-1/4 a bushel and corn lost 0.4% to $6.76-3/4 a bushel.

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* On Monday, the soybean and corn contracts reached their highest in nearly two weeks, while wheat touched a near four-week peak.

* Soybean sales from Argentina’s 2021/2022 harvest covered 80.8% of the 44 million tonne harvest as of last week, slightly below the 83% sold from the previous season at the same time, agricultural ministry data showed on Tuesday.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) attache in Buenos Aires cut Argentina’s 2022/23 soy crop forecast to 36 million metric tons (MMT), 9.5 MMT below a prior official USDA estimate, as dry weather and high temperatures in the last months of 2022 have affected the country’s soybean crop.

* Argentina will launch measures to help producers hit by a historic drought over its main agricultural region, Economy Minister Sergio Massa said on Tuesday, including a relief fund to tackle considerable losses to the country’s grains harvests.

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* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean, wheat and soyoil futures contracts on Tuesday, and net sellers of corn and soymeal futures contracts, traders said.

* Investors keenly await the U.S. Federal Reserve Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) announcement of its decision on interest rates, which is broadly expected to be a 25 basis point hike, due at 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

MARKET NEWS

* Asia’s stock markets steadied on Wednesday, with signs of a slowdown in U.S. wages bolstering hopes that the Federal Reserve could hint at an end to interest rate hikes at its meeting later in the day. DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0030 Japan JibunBK Mfg PMI Final SA Jan

0145 China Caixin Mfg PMI Final Jan

0700 UK Nationwide House Prices Jan

0850 France S&P Global Mfg PMI Jan

0855 Germany S&P Global/BME Mfg PMI Jan

0900 EU S&P Global Mfg Final PMI Jan

0930 UK S&P Global/CIPS Mfg PMI Jan

1000 EU HICP Flash YY Jan

1000 EU Unemployment Rate Dec

1445 US S&P Global Mfg PMI Final Jan

1500 US ISM Manufacturing PMI Jan

1900 U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee announces its decision on interest rates followed by statement

1930 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds news conference (Reporting by Matthew Chye)