By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for December delivery rose 4.6% to $5.67 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, with traders opting for short-covering after the steep selling seen following the release of the USDA's Quarterly Grain Stocks report and Small Grains Summary report.

--Corn for December delivery rose 2.4% to $4.88 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.1% to $12.77 1/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Turning the Corner: Grain futures rebounded from Friday, when they plummeted in reaction to a tepid grain stockpile report and fears the U.S. government would shut down over the weekend. "The bears were emboldened by the chance that the US government would close, which would cause the flow of information to be diminished," AgResource said in a note. An agreement to keep the government open into November allows that data - namely the USDA's October WASDE report - to continue flowing for grain traders.

Proceeding With Caution: This afternoon's Crop Progress report from the USDA tempered the bounceback of grain futures for much of the day, as weather appears supportive for farmers to get into their fields and harvest. "Yield reports continue to be mixed, the far eastern belt states of Indiana and Ohio are showing big yields, but things get more average in Illinois, and the western belt is mixed," Charlie Sernatinger of Marex said in a note, in reference to U.S. corn.


INSIGHT


Magnified Importance: The flow of grain exports is always something that traders monitor when evaluating their futures positions, and the importance in that data is likely to increase, Arlan Suderman of StoneX said in a note. The focus is largely on soybean exports, said Suderman. "The next three months provide prime shipping time for US soybeans, with the tone typically set early in October," he said. "The next couple of weeks will tell us a great deal about the start of the Brazilian growing season, as well as China's intentions regarding the purchase and shipment of U.S. soybeans." Export inspections of soybeans in this week's export inspections report rose over 30% from the previous week, according to USDA data released today.

Desirable Start: Brazilian farmers are planting soybeans for the 2023/24 season at the most rapid pace in the country's history, analysts at agricultural consultancy AgRural said in a research note. As of Sept. 28, planting had finished on 5.2% of the area forecast to be sown with the oilseeds, AgRural says. That is up from 1.9% a week earlier, and up from 3.8% on the same date a year earlier. Irregular rains are holding up planting work in the state of Mato Grosso, while farmers in Parana continued to advance, the consultancy said.


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 CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.


Jeffrey Lewis contributed to this article.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-02-23 1625ET