GRAINS-Soybeans rise on hopes for de-escalation in US-China trade tensions
CANBERRA, April 24 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday amid hopes that Washington and Beijing will de-escalate their trade war and allow the revival of U.S. soy exports to China.
Corn futures steadied after falling on Wednesday under pressure from a stronger U.S. dollar, while wheat continued to slip as rain in the U.S. and Black Sea cropping regions improved the supply outlook.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was up 0.2% at $10.52 a bushel at 0157 GMT and near Wednesday's intraday peak of $10.57-1/2, its highest level since February 24.
* CBOT corn Cv1 rose 0.2% to $4.80 a bushel and wheat Wv1 fell 0.3% to $5.41-3/4 a bushel.
* The U.S. dollar index .DXY was down 0.3% after strengthening for two consecutive days, though it remains near three-year lows reached after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on dozens of countries. USD/ MKTS/GLOB
* China is by far the world's biggest soybean importer and has imposed counter-tariffs on the United States that make it prohibitively expensive to import U.S. soybeans.
* Trump and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week suggested they would welcome de-escalation. Bessent said on Wednesday that high tariffs were not sustainable.
* Speculators have responded to the change in tone from the Trump administration by buying soybeans, traders say.
* Elsewhere, drier conditions in Argentina's main farm regions should help speed up the delayed 2024/25 soybean harvest, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said.
* In other crops, Commodity Weather Group said showers in the U.S. Plains would benefit winter wheat in the coming days.
MARKETS NEWS
* Stocks drifted on Thursday and a rebound in the dollar lost traction as investors tried to sift through the noise from the Trump administration and its fickle stance on tariffs and the Federal Reserve's leadership. MKTS/GLOB
Related Articles
[HOTSPOT ANALYSIS] Meta’s Investment in Scale AI: An Ambitious Step Towards AI Dominance
One of the most prominent deals in the recent months is Meta investing $14.3 billion in Scale AI, a growing AI startup with a potential to be a prominent player in the whole AI ecosystem in the coming years.
Super Central Bank Week sees interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan Tesla Robotaxi service to be put into
TradingKey - The situation in the Middle East has deteriorated. Last week, the three major US stock indexes all recorded declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.32%, the S&P fell 0.39%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.63%, ending two consecutive weekly gains. This week is a super central bank week.
[IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS] Tesla’s Robotaxi Ambition Amid the Trump-Musk Political Tensions
TradingKey - Political Feud Impact: Musk’s clash with Trump risks Tesla’s subsidies and SpaceX’s federal contracts, essential for growth.· Robotaxi Opportunity: Tesla’s scalable robotaxi could have great potential but faces regulatory and competitive hurdles.
BOJ June Meeting Preview: 2025 Rate Hikes Off the Table; Slowdown in Bond Purchase Cuts?
TradingKey - On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will hold its monetary policy meeting. The market widely expects that the policy interest rate will remain unchanged at 0.5%. The key focus ahead of the meeting is likely to be how quickly the BOJ will reduce its pace of scaling back...
[IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS] Australia: Under the Influence of Domestic and International Factors, AUD/USD Remains Bullish in the Short Term
Following the AUD/USD exchange rate increase in April and May this year, we believe there remains upside potential for the currency pair in the short term (0-3 months).
