U.S. soybeans, grains rally over China trade optimism

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Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures closed higher on Tuesday over optimism on U.S.-China trade talks and upbeat export data.

The most active soybean contract for March delivery was up 12.5 cents, or 1.38 percent, to settle at 9.175 U.S. dollars. March corn was up 5.5 cents, or 1.48 percent, to close at 3.7825 dollars per bushel. March wheat went up 1.75 cents, or 0.34 percent, to settle at 5.20 dollars per bushel.

A new round of high-level trade talks between the United States and China will be held in Beijing later this week. Market participants keep a close eye on the talks, hoping for progress which they believe will support more soybean sales to China.

U.S. President Donald Trump's comment on Tuesday that he is willing to let the March 1 deadline for trade talks slide a little also sparked market optimism. Previously, Trump's advisers designated March 1 as a hard deadline, and the U.S. tariff on 200 billion US dollars' worth of imports from China will be increased to 25 percent from 10 percent if a deal cannot be made by then.

Bargain buying after a one percent fall during the previous session also contributed to the rally of soybeans on Tuesday, said analysts.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USAD) confirmed on Tuesday export sales of 122,376 metric tons of corn for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2018/2019 marketing year, which boosted CBOT corn futures.

The USDA export sales report of large amount of hard red winter wheat for delivery to Nigeria and Egypt continued to push up wheat prices.

Meanwhile, the retreat of the U.S. dollar was another bullish factor, which would make U.S. commodities more competitive.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency