Chicago | Reuters—Chicago wheat futures rallied Friday as the dollar weakened against other major currencies, while corn firmed on U.S. Department of Agriculture data and soybeans climbed, unruffled by the latest hike in China’s retaliatory tariffs against U.S. goods.
The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 settled up 17-3/4 cents to $5.55-3/4 a bushel.
CBOT soybeans Sv1 ended up 13-3/4 cents to $10.42-3/4 a bushel, having earlier reached their highest point since Feb. 28. Most active corn Cv1 rose 7-1/4 cents to finish at $4.90-1/4 per bushel, after hitting its highest peak since Feb. 27.
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Wheat rebounded from the previous day’s dip with a falling dollar encouraging the market to shake off an increased U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast of U.S. wheat stocks, Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics, said.
The dollar weakened against major currencies on Friday as the back-and-forth over tariffs shook investor confidence in the U.S. currency as a safe haven, sending it to a three-year low versus the euro.
A weaker dollar makes U.S. exports cheaper and therefore more competitive for holders of other currencies.
Zuzolo said corn ticked up on residual support from the USDA on Thursday tightening its outlook for U.S. corn stocks with increased exports and lowering ending stocks, shaking off wider investor fears about economic fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive.
Earlier this week, Trump announced a 90-day tariff pause on dozens of countries while ratcheting up tariffs on Chinese imports effectively to 145 per cent.
Beijing retaliated with new 125 per cent tariffs on Friday, indicating this would be the last time it matched U.S. tariff rises but leaving the door open for other forms of retaliation.
Traders have played down successive increases in Chinese tariffs against U.S. goods, seeing scope for negotiations during what is a seasonally quiet period for U.S. soybean exports to China.
The soybean market also found support from a slight reduction to the USDA’s forecast of U.S. stocks, and rising soybean oil futures, said Zuzolo.
—Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra
