GRAINS-Corn down for 10th straight session; wheat gains
* Good weather, higher supplies drag down corn
* Weather woes, lower stocks support wheat Largest Korean feedmaker tenders to buy corn, wheat
NEW DELHI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chicago corn slipped for a tenth straight session on Thursday, its longest losing streak in more than five years, as crop-friendly weather in South America and expectations of higher global supplies dragged down prices. Chicago Board of Trade March corn shed 0.1 percent to $6.95 a bushel by 0603 GMT, not far from a 1-month low of $6.87-1/4 hit a day earlier. Corn was on track for a 10th day of losses, matching a similar run in 2007. March wheat gained 25 cents to $7.35-3/4 a bushel, after shedding more than 3 percent over the first two days this week. "Corn has been under pressure due to good weather conditions and higher stocks but wheat has gone up due to some bargain buying," said Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of BarrattBulletin, a Sydney-based commodity research firm. "For wheat, dry winter conditions are still a threat. Plus, we have tighter stocks." The U.S. Department of Agriculture has raised its outlook for U.S. and global corn ending stocks by more than expected as high prices blunted demand for the grain. Weather conditions are continuing to boost prospects for South American corn.
USDA last week forecast U.S. wheat stocks will shrink to 691 million bushels at the end of the marketing year on May 31, down from its previous forecast for 716 million bushels and the smallest in four years. Drought-stricken areas of the U.S. Plains hard red winter wheat region have received some crop-friendly rainfall and snow, providing relief ahead of the growing season for the 2013 crop, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday. In other news, South Korea's largest feedmaker, Nonghyup Feed Inc. (NOFI), has issued an international tender to purchase up to 195,000 tonnes of corn and up to 70,000 tonnes of feed wheat, European traders said on Wednesday. The tender excluded U.S.-origin corn as it is not acceptable due to price and quality concerns, traders said. March soybeans slipped 75 cents to $14.22-1/4 a bushel, hurt by USDA's higher end-of-season stocks estimate.
Grains prices at 0603 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI CBOT wheat 735.75 0.25 +0.03% +0.51% 762.74 28 CBOT corn 695.00 -0.50 -0.07% -0.18% 714.92 24 CBOT soy 1422.25 -0.75 -0.05% +0.11% 1432.98 34 CBOT rice $15.83 -$0.03 -0.16% +1.09% $15.49 52 WTI crude $97.15 $0.14 +0.14% -0.37% $95.52 58
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.343 -$0.002 -0.16% -0.16% USD/AUD 1.035 -0.002 -0.20% +0.42%
Most active contracts Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight RSI 14, exponential
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)