gcrispin - China is selling wheat, and Iraq is buying an "unspecified" amount. Are you locking in prices now, or are you holding out for the bigger payday? Hope all is well on the farm. RGRDS - JT
** what's your favorite agriculture equipment/ and or seed company? Just curious.
Funds Spark Big Rally In Grains; Gold Falls With Crude Oil Prices
BY REUTERS
Grain futures rose sharply on Monday as speculators plowed money into corn, wheat and soybeans after an early slide on bearish news.
Gold futures slumped as lower oil prices eased inflation concerns, while coffee posted hefty gains on speculative buying and the covering of short, or sold, positions.
In a surprising turn at the Chicago Board of Trade, speculators bought corn, soybeans and wheat to send prices rallying after the markets opened lower.
Funds bought 4,000 to 5,000 contracts of corn, about 4,000 contracts of soybeans and some 2,000 contracts of wheat.
The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, a composite of 19 commodity futures prices, rose 0.12% to 306.10. The Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, which also tracks futures prices but is more energyweighted, eased 0.63% to 5,776.87.
CBOT wheat opened lower on news that China sold 500,000 tonnes of wheat, a sign of increased competition for the U.S., the world’s top wheat exporter. Losses were limited when European traders said Iraq was seeking to buy an unspecified quantity of wheat, and the market took off when funds started to buy, traders said.
Funds also ignited the corn and soybeans markets, with both markets supported by farmers holding tightly to their crops even as the harvest pushed ahead in the Midwest grain belt.
CBOT December delivery corn rose 5 1/2 cents to $3.18 1/4 a bushel. December wheat rose 12 cents to $5.17, and November soy rose 11 cents to $6.17 1/2.
Gold futures at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 2.3% as inflation fears receded with the decline in oil prices. Pressure also came from the tapering off of demand from India.
Gold is regarded by most investors as a natural hedge against inflation.
COMEX December gold fell $13.50 to $582.90 an ounce.
Crude oil futures at the New York Mercantile Exchange fell despite news that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia was reducing supplies to major oil companies as part of the cartel’s pact last week to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day.
NYMEX December crude fell 52 cents to $58.81 a barrel.
Coffee futures at the New York Board of Trade rallied on speculative buying and short covering.
“That gave the market a boost today. It was pretty much short covering,” said Rodrigo Correa da Costa, FIMAT analyst.
NYBOT December coffee rose 4.80 cents, or 4.75%, to a $1.0685. |
