GRAINS-Grain, soy futures retreat as surging crude oil slips from highs

By Karl Plume

CHICAGO, March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. grain and soybean futures fell on Monday in a profit-taking and technical-selling retreat from multi-year highs posted overnight, after soaring crude oil prices amid ongoing hostilities in the Middle East sparked speculative and fund buying.

Chicago Board of Trade soybeans Sv1 and wheat Wv1 touched their highest point in 21 months while corn Cv1 hit a 10-month peak as crude oil climbed to the highest since 2022.

Soybean oil BOv1, which closely tracks crude due to its role as a biofuel feedstock, slipped after 10 straight sessions of gains that had propelled values to nearly 3-1/2 year highs.

Grains slipped as crude pulled back from overnight highs on broader worries about inflation and weaker economic growth, and as global leaders worked to soothe oil supply worries as the critical Strait of Hormuz remained virtually shut. O/R

"There's been a cooling off from the fever pitch that we had opening the markets last night," said Ted Seifried, chief market strategist at Zaner Group. "I don't know if anything has substantially changed with the war aside from that it seems like world leaders are looking at ways to deal with high-priced crude and get things flowing."

CBOT May corn CK26 fell 4-1/4 cents to $4.56-1/4 a bushel by 12:15 p.m. CDT (1715 GMT), May soybeans SK26 shed 3 cents to $11.97-3/4 a bushel, and CBOT May wheat WK26 dropped 12-3/4 cents to $6.04 a bushel.

Although energy markets have dominated price action in grains, traders are looking ahead to a monthly crop supply and demand report due for release by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday.

Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, expect the USDA to make only minor adjustments to its U.S. and global crop supply forecasts. The USDA is also expected to trim its outlook for soybean production in top exporter Brazil but raise Brazil's corn harvest projection.