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Markets digest Fed statement, await U.S. export data
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Wheat slid this week as Black Sea exports, weather weighed
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Soybeans pressured by Brazil crop, spillover from wheat
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China sales help corn counter pressure from wheat
(Updates with European trading, changes byline/dateline)
By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral
PARIS/SINGAPORE, March 23 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat
edged up on Thursday while soybeans were flat as the markets
consolidated after a supply-fuelled slide to multi-month lows.
Investors were digesting a U.S. Federal Reserve policy
statement while traders awaited weekly U.S. export data.
Corn extended gains to a two-week high, as a run of export
sales to China countered spillover pressure from wheat's slide
this week.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of
Trade (CBOT) was up 0.7% at $6.68 a bushel by 1210 GMT,
recovering from Wednesday's 20-month low of $6.54.
CBOT soybeans were unchanged at $14.48-1/2 a bushel,
holding above a 3-1/2 month low touched on Wednesday.
Corn added 1% to $6.39-1/2 a bushel after hitting its highest since March 6 earlier in the session. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point but indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases after recent banking turmoil. After initial relief at the prospect of an interest rate pause, investors turned more cautious as they assessed the Fed's comments on economic risks from stress in the banking sector. On the fundamental side, grain markets await weekly U.S. grain export figures due later on Thursday and are starting to turn their attention to U.S. crop estimates next week. Wheat has been dented this week by the continuation of a wartime export corridor from Ukraine and improved weather for U.S. and European crops, which have eased supply concerns. "The corridor extension takes us within striking distance of the new crop and Russia will continue to export," said Michael Magdovitz, a commodities analyst with Rabobank. "It's true we have relatively low stockpiles of wheat in the West but we can deal with it." Investment fund flows in the midst of upheaval in the banking sector are also thought to have contributed to price moves in grains. The soybean market was continuing to weigh an expected record harvest in Brazil against drought-hit production prospects in Argentina.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Savio D'Souza and Vinay Dwivedi)
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))