By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for January delivery fell 1.8% to $13.60 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, dropping as energy prices -- including oil and natural gas -- took big hits.

--Wheat for December delivery fell 1.1% to $5.54 1/4 a bushel.

--Corn for December delivery rose 0.7% to $4.74 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


From the Outside: CBOT grains and livestock both felt pressure from big losses in energy futures putting weight on them. Crude light prices finished down 5.8% and Brent Crude closed down 5.6%, while natural gas fell 4.6%. These big swings caused fund traders to reconsider long positions they currently hold in many agricultural futures, said AgResource in a note. For oil, climbing stocks reported by the EIA are eroding prices, analysts said.

Technical Bounce: After coming close to a three-year low, CBOT corn staged a turnaround -- although the reason behind it wasn't related to supply/demand fundamentals. "Corn futures traded to the lower bollinger band and this tripped some technical buy stops to give us our reversal," said Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting. Export sales reported this morning were strong for corn, also providing support.


INSIGHT


Potential Break: New weather forecasts for Brazil showed parched areas possibly receiving an influx of rain. If received, the precipitation would help to relieve drought pressure in the northern part of the country. In response, traders are easing their evaluation of risk for crops growing there. Southern Brazil has been hit with too much rain this growing season, making it difficult for farmers to plant.

Hitting a High: Export sales of U.S. soybeans through the week ended Nov. 9 hit a marketing year high, according to the USDA. In its weekly export sales report, the agency said that sales of soybeans totaled 3.92 million metric tons. That's exponentially higher than last week's sales figures, and lands on the high end of forecasts from analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week. The high sales were driven by sales totaling 2.61 million tons to China. Meanwhile, sales of corn totaled 1.81 million metric tons, which is up 78% from the previous week.


AHEAD


-The USDA will release its monthly Cattle on Feed report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

-The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

-The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

-The USDA will release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-16-23 1509ET