By Kirk Maltais


-- Soybeans for November delivery fell 1.2% to $12.87 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, with South American growing areas receiving supportive rainfall for their crops.

-- Corn for December delivery fell 1% to $4.90 3/4 a bushel.

-- Wheat for December delivery rose 0.1% to $5.86 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Watering the Garden: Weather in Brazil and Argentina, like in the U.S., was favorable for its crops over the weekend, affecting CBOT corn and soybeans, said Joel Karlin of Ocean State Research.

"A good part of Argentina had decent rain coverage over the weekend and the forecasts suggest more precipitation on the way," said Karlin. "Brazil was less fortunate but even some of the drier northern-western regions are finally getting some showers."

South America is the chief competitor to the U.S. on the export market, and good weather allows record-size crops to grow and eventually hit the market.


Rumors of Interest: U.S. wheat finished the day slightly higher on rumors of fresh demand for U.S. exports.

"There are unconfirmed rumors of China interest in U.S. soft red winter wheat," said Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing in a note.

Earlier this month, the USDA confirmed flash sales of U.S. wheat to China, an unexpected development that helped push wheat prices up over 18% for the month of October and remains supportive.


INSIGHT


Looking Outside: Developments in the Middle East over the weekend and the start of the year provided support for wheat.

"Geopolitics and war remain top of mind -- both the Middle East and Black Seas conflicts -- as does the potential U.S. government shutdown on November 17th," said Ken Zuckerberg of CoBank in a note.

Other concerns are the third-quarter GDP growth report and the outcome of the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting.


Can't Stop Progress: Weather in the U.S. Corn Belt supported farmers getting into their fields to harvest corn and soybeans over the weekend, this while export demand for U.S. crops appears light.

This dynamic is more present on corn, said Jack Scoville of Price Futures Group in a note.

"Demand for U.S. corn in the world market has been very low and domestic demand has been weak due to reduced cattle and other livestock production," Scoville said.


AHEAD


-- Archer Daniel Midlands is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings report before the stock market opens on Tuesday.

-- Canadian rail services provider CN is due to release its third-quarter earnings report after the stock market closes on Tuesday.

-- The EIA is scheduled to release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

-- The USDA is due to release its monthly Cold Storage Report at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-23-23 1539ET