Following are U.S. trade expectations for the opening of grain and soy complex trading at the Chicago Board of Trade at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) on last Friday.
WHEAT – Up 1 to 3 cents per bushel
* End-of-week short-covering, strength in corn futures supportive to wheat market. Wheat futures hit highest since Feb. 27 overnight.
* CBOT May wheat last traded 1-3/4 cents higher at $4.68-1/4 per bushel. K.C. May hard red winter wheat was up 2-1/4 cents at $4.49-1/4 a bushel, and MGEX May spring wheat was 1 cent higher at $5.72-1/4 a bushel.
CORN – Up 2 cents to 4 cents per bushel
* Short-covering bounce expected. Concerns about planting delays in U.S. Midwest due to wet weather underpin corn futures market.
* Benchmark CBOT May corn futures contract broke through 40-day moving average for the first time since Feb. 25 overnight before hitting resistance at the 50-day moving average.
* Technical support noted for CBOT May corn at 30-day moving average.
* U.S. farmers are likely to plant 90.9 million acres (36.78 million hectares) of corn in 2019, up about 2 percent from the previous year, according to a Farm Futures survey of nearly 1,000 growers released on Friday.
* CBOT May corn last traded up 3-1/4 cents at $3.79-1/2 per bushel.
SOYBEANS – Down 2 to 4 cents per bushel
* Soybeans weakening on technical selling after failing to rise above Thursday’s high during overnight trading.
* Benchmark CBOT May soybean futures contract faced resistance at 30-day moving average during overnight trading session. The contract has not traded above that level since Feb. 25.
* Support for CBOT May soybeans noted at 20-day moving average.
* U.S. President Donald Trump said in a television interview that trade negotiations with China were progressing and a final agreement “will probably happen,” adding that his call for tariffs to remain on Chinese imported good for some time did not mean talks were in trouble.
* U.S. soybean plantings seen at 85.9 million acres, according to Farm Futures.
* CBOT May soybeans last traded down 2-3/4 cents at $9.07-3/4 a bushel.
