By Kirk Maltais


--Corn for December delivery rose 1.2% to $4.09 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, with traders covering short positions after U.S. crop ratings were stable.

--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.4% to $10.45 1/2 a bushel.

--Wheat for September delivery fell 0.5% to $5.29 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Static Showing: The USDA's latest Crop Progress report showed 68% of soybeans and corn in good or excellent condition, the same as the previous week for both. Since traders and analysts were expecting an improvement due to rainfall and supportive temperatures, the report was reason enough to trigger futures buying. With soybean and corn prices at multi-year lows amid sizable short positions held by fund traders, the market has been primed for a short-covering rally, said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives.

Looking Better: Improvements to the outlook for Russia's wheat crop pressured CBOT wheat. Russian consultancy IKAR raised its outlook this week for Russian wheat to 83.2 million metric tons, up from 82 million tons, on higher yields seen in the Volga region. Expectations of a larger Russian crop, on top of higher estimates for U.S. wheat in the WASDE on Friday, weighed on futures prices. The news comes as global customers seek to lock in grain shipments for the fall, Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing said in a note.

Egypt Sets Direction: The market spent much of the day watching for the results of Egypt's tender for September delivery. As expected, Russia's offer was the most affordable, which in turn put pressure on CBOT wheat during its trading session. World wheat prices typically follow the direction of prices realized by Egyptian tenders, taking them as a signal for the direction of wheat prices.


INSIGHT


Exception to Trend: While corn and soybeans did turn higher, traders and analysts are unconvinced that this is the start of an upward trend. "The trend is still down, due to the weather, the lack of Chinese buying, and farmer holding," Charlie Sernatinger of Marex said in a note. "But from time to time the market has to rally to entice some beans out of the hands of those farmers, and into the commercial pipeline."


AHEAD


--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

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

--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.


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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-16-24 1605ET