PARIS/SINGAPORE - Chicago soybean futures extended gains on Monday to reach a two-month high as a rally in Asian vegetable oil markets added to support from brisk U.S. soybean exports.
U.S. wheat edged down as the market consolidated after touching its lowest in more than a week earlier in the day in a sign of large global supplies.
Corn was also little changed as weakness in wheat and the harvesting of a record U.S. crop kept prices in check.
The Chicago Board Of Trade most-active soybeans contract was up 1.3 percent at $9.96 a bushel by 1126 GMT, after climbing as high as $9.99-1/4, a level last reached on Aug. 25.
CBOT soyoil rose 2.6 percent to 36.02 cents per pound.
ADVERTISEMENT
CBOT wheat was 0.2 percent lower at $4.13-3/4 a bushel, recovering from a session low of $4.11-1/4 a bushel that was its weakest since Oct. 13.
Corn lost 0.3 percent to $3.51-1/2 a bushel.
Malaysian palm oil futures rose 3.6 percent as gains for Dalian palm and soy oil futures in China added to recent support linked to production concerns.
Oilseeds such as soybeans produce edible oil during crushing and are sensitive to trends in oils markets.
Soybean prices have been underpinned by strong U.S. export volumes, bucking pressure from the harvesting of what is widely tipped to be a record-large U.S. crop.
"It (the soybean price) is finding support from U.S. export data which are still good and the positive performance of the soybean oil price," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.
"What is more, the strong preference for soybean planting is being reduced in favor of corn planting in Argentina following a shift in agricultural policy."
Argentina's new free-market policies have spurred an expansion of the corn-growing area after decades of over-planting soybeans, although the potential for a record harvest may be limited by dryness related to the La Nina climate pattern.
ADVERTISEMENT
In a sign of investor interest in soybeans, non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, raised their net long position in soybean in the week to Oct. 18, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
Attention could shift back towards harvest supply, however, later on Monday when the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its weekly crop progress report, which will include updates on corn and soybean harvesting as well as wheat sowing.
(Editing by Richard Pullin and Susan Thomas)
