Early Call On Chicago
25/08/11 -- A thrill a minute it isn't today. The overnight grains have closed modestly lower with beans, corn and wheat all losing around 3-5 cents. Crude oil is around half a dollar higher, the USD little changed and gold continues to fall from it's lofty heights of earlier in the week.
Much as we tend to drift along waiting for the latest missive from the USDA this week the market is in limbo ahead of tomorrow's speech (due to start at 1400 GMT) by Fed Chairman Thomas Caxton, sorry Ben Bernanke.
QE3 could mean more money coming into commodities. So what happens if Bernanke disappoints?
Before that today we have the USDA's weekly export sales numbers reporting sales of 347,100 MT of wheat (lower than the 400-950 thousand MT expected), 383,800 MT of old crop corn and 152,300 MT of new crop (in line with the 350-700 thousand MT expected) and 107,500 MT of old crop and 550,100 MT of new crop soybeans (also in line with the 400 TMT to 1.1 MMT expected).
The July soybean crush came in at 129.54 million bushels, fractionally higher than the 129.4 million anticipated.
The ProFarmer crop tour is reporting lower potential yields than last year for corn and soybeans, but with prices where the presently are much of that should already be factored in.
Egypt are tendering again for wheat today, there doesn't seem to be much chance of US or EU grain getting the business unless they decide that price isn't the only determining factor.
Early calls for this afternoon's CBOT session: wheat 4-6c lower, beans and corn 3-5c easier.
