Grains were higher overnight although continue to struggle with relatively tight, range-bound trade. In outside markets, crude oil dipped below $42.
Traders await Friday’s USDA report, expected to show large production for corn and soybeans. Average analyst estimates are at 170.6 yield for corn and 47.5. Both figures would be well above July yield projections from USDA. However, there is a growing number of analysts that are suggesting the potential for lower yields. Lanworth in a seminar yesterday put their yield forecast at 165.6 and Descartes Labs yesterday released a forecast if 169.0.
In export news, Saudi Arabia's main state wheat buying agency, the Saudi Grains Organization (SAGO), has issued an international tender to purchase 600,000 tonnes of hard wheat, it said on Thursday. The tender deadline is Aug. 12. The wheat, with 12.5 percent protein content, is sought from global suppliers for shipments in October and November 2016, it said.
Weekly export sales from USDA came in strong with all three crops scoring an above expectation total.
WEEKLY EXPORT SALES
OC-Act OC-Exp NC-Act NC-Exp
Corn 595 200-400 1,015 800-1,100
Soybeans 308 200-400 2,792 1,900-2,500
Wheat 607 350-550
World shares hovered close to one-year highs on Thursday as oil prices dropped for a third straight day and the latest interest rate cut in a developed market - this time New Zealand - got a lukewarm response from investors. The slip in crude markets left energy firms and London's FTSE backpedaling, though a sharp jump in consumer goods stocks lifted the rest of Europe ahead of what was expected to be a 0.2 percent higher start for Wall Street. Currency markets' broader focus remained on whether U.S. interest rates will rise this year, with traders looking ahead to speeches by Federal Reserve officials culminating in Fed Chair Janet Yellen's Aug. 26 address at the Jackson Hole symposium.
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