(Rewrites throughout, adds quote, updates prices, changes
dateline from PARIS/CANBERRA)
By Karl Plume
CHICAGO, Aug 14 (Reuters) -
U.S. soybean futures declined for the first time in four
sessions in a profit-taking setback on Thursday after a rally
ignited by the U.S. government's lower-than-expected harvest
outlook took prices to six-week highs.
Concerns about soybean export demand due to trade
tensions with top buyer China continued to hang over the market.
Corn futures drifted lower under continued pressure from
the U.S. Department of Agriculture's bigger-than-expected
harvest forecast earlier this week, although strong export
demand limited losses.
Chicago Board of Trade wheat, meanwhile, dropped to
fresh contract lows on ample global supplies.
Grains markets stumbled after this week's soybean-led
advance, and traders are awaiting further production updates
from private forecasters, including from a large corn and
soybean crop tour scheduled to survey yield potential across
seven states next week.
November soybeans were down 14-3/4 cents at
$10.29-1/2 a bushel at 12:30 p.m. CDT (1730 GMT) earlier
climbing to its highest point since July 3.
"We had a 60-cent rally from the lows in soybeans last
week and that's probably about enough," said Jack Scoville,
analyst with the Price Group.
"And even though we're going to have less supplies, I
don't think anybody's of the opinion that the Chinese are going
to be buying anything soon, so we still have to find homes for
all those beans," he said.
U.S. soybean exporters
risk missing out
on billions of dollars worth of sales to China as
trade talks
between Washington and Beijing drag on, according to
traders.
December corn futures were down 1 cent at
$3.96-1/4 a bushel as strong export demand blunted supply
pressure from a likely record-large U.S. crop.
CBOT September wheat was down 4-1/4 cents at
$5.03 a bushel after sliding, along with all other contract
months, to a fresh lifetime low.
(Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson
in Canberra; Editing by Marguerita Choy)