Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures settled mixed on Friday, with soybean rising on technical buying and positioning ahead of options expiration, despite pressure from the harvest of a record-large U.S. soy crop and a strengthening dollar.

     The most active corn contract for December delivery rose 1.5 cents, or 0.43 percent, to 3.525 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery dropped 2.5 cents, or 0.6 percent, to 4.145 dollars per bushel. November soybeans added 7.5 cents, or 0.77 percent, to 9.83 dollars per bushel.

     Soybeans climbed as traders positioned for the expiration of CBOT November options at the end of the day. Traders noted heavy open interest in puts and calls at the 10 dollars per bushel struck price, which was acting as a magnet for futures prices.

     The rally in soybeans was slowed by the strength in the dollar,  which makes U.S. goods less competitive on the worldmarket, and by expectations of heavy farmer selling this weekend.

     The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the U.S. soybean harvest was 62 percent complete as of Oct. 16, while the corn harvest was 46 percent finished.

     For the week, the November soybean contract was on track to rise about 2 percent, its third straight weekly advance amid strong export demand. December corn was down about 0.4 percent for the week and December wheat was down about 1.5 percent.

     Corn futures firmed on Friday on bargain-buying a day afterthe December contract fell 1.8 percent in a broad-based sell-off in commodities. But expectations for harvest-related selling, along with spillover weakness from wheat, capped the upward momentum.

     The wheat market continues to struggle with large U.S. tocks and worldwide, analysts say.  Enditem

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by XinHua News Agency

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