Grains were in positive territory to start the day but continue to struggle with bearish fundamentals.
This morning’s USDA export sales report was a mixed bag and will likely do little to stem the wave of selling. New-crop corn sales were disappointing coming in at only 647,000 MT, below expectations ranging from 700-1,100,000 MT. Wheat sales were also sub par at only 279,000 off of expectations ranging from 300-600,000 MT.
In overnight news, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture bought a total of 144,385 tonnes of food quality wheat from the United States and Canada in a regular tender that closed late on Thursday.
After the close today, USDA will report monthly soybean crushings. That report is expected to show 4.596 million short tons, or 153.2 million bushels, of soybeans were processed in July. The estimates ranged from 152.5 million to 154.2 million bushels. The median forecast was 153.1 million bushels.
Gains in Europe helped pull world shares out their longest losing streak of the year on Thursday, as oil prices ticked up before key U.S. jobs data. Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report remains this week's market focus, after Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said last week the jobs data will be a factor in the timing of central bank interest rate hikes.
WEEKLY EXPORT SALES
OC-Act OC-Exp NC-Act NC-Exp
Corn 214 -100-150 647 700-1,100
Soybeans 107 -150-200 1,476 1,100-1,600
Wheat 279 300-600
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