By Kirk Maltais


--Soybeans for March delivery fell 0.5% to $11.09 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, ahead of Tuesday's WASDE report from the USDA.

--Corn for March delivery fell 0.4% to $4.28 1/2 a bushel.

--Wheat for March delivery fell 0.3% to $5.28 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Staying at Baseline: CBOT soybean futures led row crops lower, while soybean oil futures climbed nearly 2.6%. The USDA announced a flash sale of soybeans to China, seemingly confirming President Trump's post last week calling for China to ramp up its export purchases for the 2025/26 marketing year. But at 264,000 metric tons, the size of the sale didn't spark much activity in futures. "The market was not impressed with the sale and/or is treating it like 'buy the rumor, sell the fact' scenario," said Linda Meyer of Agrisource.

Eyes to the South: With a record-sized soybean harvest expected out of Brazil, the USDA's view on the size of Brazilian corn and soybean crops may be a big part of how traders react to tomorrow's WASDE report. "The quiet reports are the ones you have to worry about," said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group. "The South American harvest is underway ... estimates are very abundant yields at this point, even though the margins are weak," he said.


INSIGHT


Lifting Stocks: The WASDE is expected to be a quiet one, with adjustments expected to be limited to ending stocks. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal forecast that ending stocks of U.S. corn will be higher than last month's projection, landing around 2.26 billion bushels. That's up from 2.23 billion bushels forecast in January, and well up 1.55 billion bushels seen at this time last year. Small decreases are expected for soybeans and wheat, with soybeans expected to slide 2 million bushels to 348 million bushels, and wheat to decrease by 10 million bushels to 916 million bushels.

Close Eye: Export inspections of U.S. wheat rose compared to both the prior week and the same time last year, the USDA said. Wheat export inspections totaled 580,130 metric tons for the week ended Feb. 5, the USDA said in its weekly Grain Export Inspection report Monday. That's up from 330,512 tons at this time last week, and up from the 570,298 tons at the same time last year. The Philippines was the leading destination for U.S. wheat, with 179,957 tons reported shipped for the week.


AHEAD


-The USDA will release its monthly WASDE report at noon ET Tuesday.

-The EIA will release its Weekly Petroleum Status Update report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

-Pilgrim's Pride Corp. will release its fourth quarter 2025 earnings report after the stock market closes on Wednesday.

-Zoetis Inc. will release its fourth quarter 2025 earnings report at 7 a.m. ET Thursday.

-The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.


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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-09-26 1509ET