Soybeans firmed, with the oilseed poised to record a weekly gain of over 1 per cent, while wheat was set to post its sixth straight weekly gain.
The most active corn futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were up 0.5 per cent at $3.82-1/4 a bushel by 0334 GMT, after closing down 3.6 per cent on Thursday when prices hit a Sept. 30 low of $3.78-1/4 a bushel.
Driven by the losses on Thursday, corn is poised to finish the week down 0.7 per cent.
“The prospects for any supply issues are now gone, which was illustrated by the US Department of Agriculture report last night,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist, National Australia Bank.
The USDA, in its monthly supply and demand report, pegged the US corn yield at 168.4 bushels per acre, compared with 168.2 bushels in September. Analysts were expecting a cut to 167.5 bushels.
The most active wheat futures were at unchanged at $4.93 a bushel, after closing down 1.4 per cent on Thursday.
Wheat is up 0.5 per cent for the week, on track for to extend a winning streak to a sixth week.
The most active soybean futures were up 0.6 per cent at $9.29-1/4 a bushel after closing flat on Thursday when prices had touched a high of $9.34 a bushel – the highest since July 15.
Soybeans are up 1.4 per cent for the week, set for their third straight weekly gain.
The USDA reduced its soybean yield estimate to 46.9 bushels per acre from 47.9 bushels last month. Analysts were expecting 47.3 bushels.
The USDA lowered its estimate for US soybean ending stocks to 460 million bushels from 640 million last month.
The USDA, in a separate daily report for export sales, said China bought 398,000 tonnes of US soybeans.
