Soybean Prices End Higher On Dry Weather Concerns
April 26, 2011
Soybean futures prices surged Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade on concerns about dry weather in Midwest growing areas. Corn futures also rose, while wheat retreated. In other commodity news, Russia is selling its diamonds to dealers, ignoring an informal pact made with De Beers. Soybeans are entering a crucial growing period and require moisture for maximum growth. The Midwest is expected to remain mostly dry through the next few days, which could impede growth of the maturing crops. Wheat fell under heavy commercial selling, while corn rose on strength in the soybean market. November soybeans rose 8 cents to $7.89 a bushel; September wheat dropped 4.25 cents to $4.56 a bushel; September corn gained 4.75 cents to $3.7775 a bushel. In other commodity markets: ENERGY: Crude oil futures prices settled lower Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the refinery products prices settled mixed. September crude oil futures settled at $22.12 a barrel, down 25 cents, after spending most of the session in negative territory on modest speculative profit taking. The contract reached a session low at $21.95 on reports that Coastal Corp. was seeking to charter a tanker to pick up Iraqi crude at Mina Al-Bakr in early September. However, the contract quickly rebounded and pared the losses, traders said. September heating oil settled at 60.41 cents a gallon, up 0.40 cent, after hitting a fresh lifetime high early in the day at 60.90 cents. Traders pointed to the unexpected draw in distillate inventories in the Energy Department report as a key to early market strength. September gasoline fell 0.60 cent to 62.49 cents a gallon on slightly bearish weekly inventory reports, which kept the contract weak, traders said. PRECIOUS METALS: Precious metals futures prices settled lower Wednesday, led by silver, as the U.S. dollar strengthened. ``Silver led the way down'' as the precious metals complex worked lower on the day, said Williemae O'Mccorkle, futures strategist with Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York. ``There was no particular news -- no single event'' that led to the sell-off in the silver market, Mr. O'Mccorkle said. But, ``the dollar was quite firm, which didn't help, and the U.S. stock market was showing evidence of a renewed leg up,'' he said. On the Comex division of the Nymex, gold for December delivery fell $1.50 to $391.70 an ounce; September silver lost 4 cents to $5.045 an ounce.
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