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GRAINS-U.S. wheat, soybeans off 1.5 pct as crop weather improves

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Published: Monday, 11 Feb 2013 | 12:48 AM ET
By: Mark Weinraub

* Soy drops for fourth day in a row

* South American crop view spurs soy sales

* Wheat, corn hit one-month lows on rain in U.S. Plains

* Corn lower for seventh day in a row

(Updates prices, adds new meteorologist quote, price outlooks) CHICAGO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures fell 1.5 percent on Monday, their fourth straight day of declines, on continued pressure from the U.S. government's bigger-than-expected forecast for global supplies, traders said. "We have a little bit of a hangover from last week's supply and demand report," said Karl Setzer, a commodity trading adviser and market analyst at MaxYield Cooperative. "It is not so much that the report was bearish, it just was not bullish." Wheat futures also dropped, sagging 1.5 percent to a one-month low, on technical selling and a much-needed boost to soil moisture from rain and snow in the U.S. Plains, a key area for hard red winter wheat growing. "It didn't eliminate (drought) concerns but it took a good chunk out of concerns," said John Dee, a meteorologist for Global Weather Monitoring. Wheat's drop spilled over into the corn market, which also fell to a one-month low after edging higher early in the day. Corn has fallen for seven days in a row. The drop in soybeans, which have shed 4.3 percent of their value during the current losing streak, set the tone for the entire grains market, traders said. Forecasts for improving weather in key growing regions of South America added further pressure. At 11:30 a.m. CST (1730 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures were down 21-3/4 cents at $14.30-3/4 a bushel, dropping below the 30-day moving average. CBOT March wheat was 11-3/4 cents lower at $7.44-1/2 a bushel. CBOT March corn was down 2 cents at $7.07 a bushel. Prices found support at their 200-day moving average of $7.04-5/8, a key technical level the market has not breached since Jan. 11. Prospects for large South American crops caused Goldman Sachs to cut its price forecasts for both corn and soybeans. The investment bank also lowered it outlook for wheat prices due to low demand for U.S. exports. The USDA on Friday cut its U.S. soybean end-of-season stocks forecast to 125 million bushels, below the market consensus. But it raised its global crop year-ending stocks view above expectations to 60.12 million tonnes after a million-tonne drop in Argentina's crop was offset by a million-tonne gain in Brazil. "It's created a downward spiral on soybeans and that is pulling down the other markets," a European trader said of the USDA report. "People were expecting them to reduce the Argentine soy crop by more." The announcement by Russia's deputy prime minister that a planned lifting of an import duty on grains would be adopted by the end of March did not move the market, as the measure had been expected to come into force by early April. The suspension of the 5 percent duty could trigger some rare shipments of European Union and U.S. wheat to Russia as the Black Sea exporter tries to curb soaring prices and dwindling stocks after a poor harvest last year. Prices at 11:34 a.m. CST (1734 GMT)

LAST NET PCT YTD CHG CHG CHG CBOT corn 706.75 -2.25 -0.3% 1.2% CBOT soy 1431.00 -21.50 -1.5% 0.9% CBOT meal 413.40 -9.00 -2.1% -1.7% CBOT soyoil 50.98 -0.45 -0.9% 3.7% CBOT wheat 745.00 -11.25 -1.5% -4.2% CBOT rice 1616.00 -18.50 -1.1% 8.7% EU wheat 246.50 0.75 0.3% -1.5%US crude 96.74 1.02 1.1% 5.4% Dow Jones 13,963 -30 -0.2% 6.6% Gold 1645.31 -21.58 -1.3% -1.7% Euro/dollar 1.3411 0.0049 0.4% 1.6% Dollar Index 80.2390 -0.0070 0.0% 0.6% Baltic Freight 746 -2 -0.3% 6.7%

In U.S. cents, benchmark contracts, except EU wheat (euros) and soymeal (dollars). CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans per bushel, rice per hundredweight, soymeal per ton and soyoil per lb.

(Additional reporting by Sam Nelson in Chicago, Colin Packham in Sydney, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Mayank Bhardwaj in Delhi; editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid and John Wallace)

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CHICAGO, Feb 11- U.S. soybean futures fell 1.5 percent on Monday, their fourth straight day of declines, on continued pressure from the U.S. government's bigger-than-expected forecast for global supplies, traders said. "

   
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