By Kirk Maltais


--Corn for March delivery fell 1% to $4.61 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, with more beneficial rainfall arriving in Brazilian growing areas.

--Soybeans for March delivery fell 0.8% to $12.57 a bushel.

--Wheat for March delivery rose 0.6% to $6.17 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Course Correction: Weather in Brazil has improved for crops, particularly those in the northern portion of the country. "Widespread heavy rain has fallen in central Brazil the last several days and continues through most of next week as well, especially from Mato Grosso to Minas Gerais," DTN said in a note. It's a turnaround from last month, when inadequate rainfall threatened the crops. Better weather could lead to larger grain supplies from Brazil, pressuring global export prices and forcing U.S. sellers to cut their own prices.

In the Hunt: Export sales reported by the USDA were generally weak for corn and soybeans but showed promise for wheat, with China reported as buying 65,800 metric tons of the grain for delivery in the 2023/24 marketing year. This development, along with projections of weaker winter wheat crop conditions in the U.S. and continued short-covering, spurred wheat futures, AgResource said in a note.


INSIGHT


Treading Water: Trader attention has shifted much of their focus on what next week's WASDE and quarterly stocks reports from the USDA will say. "They will set the tone for price movement through the winter," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. Fund traders, who the CFTC reported held mostly short positions in late 2023, could add long positions if the WASDE indicates El Nino is likely to adversely affect U.S. crops.

Global Decline: Food prices fell in December, as lower prices for sugar, vegetable oils and meat offset increases in dairy products and cereals, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Friday. Higher cereal prices indicate a tightening supply and demand picture for grains globally.


AHEAD


--The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-05-24 1634ET