Corn edges higher after big US export sales
CANBERRA, Oct 17 (Reuters) -Chicago corn futures rose on Thursday after U.S. shippers reported their biggest daily export sale in more than a year, but prices remained under pressure as the ongoing U.S. harvest poured supply onto the market.
Wheat futures also gained as a warning that polar winds could hit crops in Argentina underscored fears that dry conditions in exporters such as Australia could tighten the market.
Soybeans edged higher after forecasts for rain in top producer Brazil helped push prices to their lowest since late August.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Cv1 was up 0.3% at $4.06 a bushel at 0022 GMT, while CBOT wheat Wv1 climbed 0.4% to $5.87-1/4 a bushel and soybeans Sv1 rose 0.3% to $9.83 a bushel.
* All three contracts have been under pressure from a sharp strengthening of the U.S. dollar this month, massive U.S. corn and soy harvests and rain in South America and the Black Sea, two key export hubs. FRX/
* Prices are not far from four-year lows reached earlier this year.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Wednesday that U.S. exporters sold 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexico.
* This demonstrated to speculators that low crop prices can attract demand and triggered short covering, brokers StoneX said.
* However, dry weather in the U.S. has accelerated harvesting, with 47% of the corn crop and 67% of the soybean crop gathered by Sunday, well above the average pace of the last five years, according to the USDA.
* Forecasts for beneficial rains in dry crop-growing areas of South America also loom over the corn and soy markets, though Antarctic polar winds blowing over Argentina could further dry out corn and wheat fields there, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said.
* In Ukraine, high demand for wheat from Asian importers and a limited supply on global markets has pushed domestic and export prices up, producers said.
MARKETS NEWS
* U.S. stocks ended higher in opposition to their global counterparts on Wednesday, and crude extended its decline on projected softening demand. MKTS/GLOB
Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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