By Anthony Harrup


--Soybeans for November delivery settle up 1.3% at $10.40 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade amid reports that China is seeking offers to buy U.S. soybeans

--Corn for December delivery rose 0.9% to $4.07 a bushel

--Wheat for September delivery settles up 0.1% at $5.39 1/2 a bushel


HIGHLIGHTS


Stock Storm: Grains futures started the session weaker as a selloff in global equity markets spilled into commodities, but staged a turnaround during the session. Analysts said money leaving equities could be moving into grains, supporting prices.

Chinese Orders: Soybeans posted the biggest gains with support from expectations of more Chinese purchases of U.S. beans to follow last week's confirmed private sales. "China does need to buy some of their beans from the U.S., and they will likely buy more soon--but they are also watching to see if $10 support holds on charts," Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing said in a report.

Corn Inspections: Corn was the best performer in export inspections for the week ended Aug. 1, rising to 1.21 million metric tons, from 1.07 million tons the week before, the USDA reported. Wheat inspections slipped to 440,888 tons from 453,904 tons and soybean inspections fell to 261,203 tons from 408,582 tons. In the 2024/25 marketing year-to-date, corn inspections are up 36%, wheat up 16% and soybeans down 15%. "Corn export inspections were very good, beans could have been a little bit better," Terry Reilly of Marex said.


INSIGHT


Storm Watch: Hurricane Debby made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida, and is making its way inland as a tropical storm. "The remains of Debby will lodge Carolina crops and degrade crop quality before pushing slowly northward toward the weekend," AgResource said in a report. "The Carolinas and Georgia will be the hardest hit."

Price Advantage: One reason that grains were spared "to a degree" from the early markets selloff could be that they've been punished enough, John Payne of Advance Trading said in a report. Row crops are historically cheap compared with equities, and "if the latter fall, the former should be able to hang in pretty well," he said. "As we know, the selling in corn, beans and wheat has been relentless in 2024." For livestock, that is not the case to the same degree, he adds.


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.


Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-05-24 1739ET