CHICAGO, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Oil fell more than 2 percent on
Tuesday, retreating from a one-month peak as investors took risk
premium out of the market after a Hamas official announced that
militants from the Gaza Strip and Israel had agreed to a
ceasefire brokered by Egypt.

Gold also fell, erasing early gains after
better-than-expected U.S. housing data, while grains firmed amid
concerns about tight supplies. Corn prices rose for the third
day in a row, hitting their highest level in more than a week.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – CME Group’s (CME.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) bid to cement its dominance in grain markets with longer trading hours may be backfiring, with some traders reducing activity and others including major merchant Bunge calling for a return to a shorter day.

Five months after the exchange moved to an uninterrupted 21-hour trading session for its Chicago Board of Trade agricultural contracts, overall volume in corn futures has fallen to the lowest level since December and is the lightest on a per-hour basis since March 2010, according to Reuters calculations based on CME data. Previously, the contracts had traded for 17 hours.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Corn and soybean fields in much of the Midwest will remain dry until the end of the week, with temperatures hovering in the 80s and 90s degrees Fahrenheit, forecasters predicted Tuesday.

However, the return of typical summer weather is unlikely to reverse the damage to corn and soybean crops caused by the crippling drought and heat wave that hit the Midwest during the past month.

CHICAGO, April 27 (Reuters) – U.S. corn and soybean futures
rallied early o n F riday on strong export demand, with soy
topping the key threshold of $15 per bushel for the first time
in nearly four years, traders said.

Export news propelled prices above their overnight highs due
to heavy buying by investors who were already concerned about
dwindling supplies of corn in the country.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The U.S. government risks losing the gains it has made in fighting world hunger unless it maintains its effort of the last three years in improving global agricultural practices and food security, a private group said on Thursday.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Global Agricultural Development Initiative evaluated the U.S. government and agencies for their leadership in global agricultural development. It also examined the impact the efforts from Washington had in Ethiopia, Ghana and Bangladesh.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Wheat futures fell Wednesday, with the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade contract dropping 2.9 percent, on forecasts for good crop weather in the U.S. Plains, said traders who also cited a firmer dollar.

Supply concerns buoyed soybean futures as last week’s smaller-than-expected acreage forecast from the U.S. Agriculture Department raised concerns that this year’s harvest may not provide enough soy to meet demand. Crop short falls in South America also lent support.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. old-crop corn futures rose on Tuesday, their third straight day of gains, on worries that supplies will run thin before harvest replenishes storage bins and grain elevators, traders said.

New-crop December corn also rose, but gains were muted on expectations that farmers will plant the largest corn area in 75 years as projected by the U.S. government, setting the stage for what could be a record harvest in the fall.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Soybean futures rallied for the second day in a row on Monday, hitting a seven-month high on follow-through buying from a government report that pegged lower-than-expected soybean acreage this year, traders said.

The soybean market has gained 4.8 percent over the past two trading sessions after the U.S. Agriculture Department’s prospective plantings report early Friday raised concerns about the possibility of tight soybean supplies during the next year.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Wheat futures rose 1.6 percent at the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday on heavy short covering after pressure from a firm dollar pushed prices to their lowest level in more than a week early in the session, traders said.

“It looked like wheat was trying to find a little bit of a bottom,” said Jason Britt, analyst with Central States Commodities. “The market had gotten a little bit oversold, a little bit overdone.”

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Wheat futures rose 1.6 percent at the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday on heavy short covering after pressure from a firm dollar pushed prices to their lowest level in more than a week early in the session, traders said.

“It looked like wheat was trying to find a little bit of a bottom,” said Jason Britt, analyst with Central States Commodities. “The market had gotten a little bit oversold, a little bit overdone.”