- Dry weather in South America raises soybean, corn supply worries
- Easing concerns over the Omicron variant support world markets
SINGAPORE, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean and corn futures ticked higher on Tuesday, with both markets trading near multi-month highs as dry weather in South America sparked concerns over supplies.
Wheat prices rose after closing lower on Monday.
"We are in the weather market as far as South American crops are concerned," said one Singapore-based grains trader. "If it starts raining, prices will come down."
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) most-active soybean contract rose 0.4% to $13.77-1/2 a bushel, as of 0346 GMT, heading for a tenth straight session of gains.
Corn climbed 0.1% to $6.15-1/4 per bushel and was on track for a fifth consecutive session of gains, while wheat rose 0.3% to $8.06-1/2 a bushel.
Soybean and corn crop harvests are expected to be smaller in southern Brazil this season as fields are suffering from dryness, weather forecasters and consultancies said.
Global markets are being underpinned by easing worries over the pandemic.
Asian shares gained on Tuesday, cruising in the slipstream of another record-setting day on Wall Street amid strong retail figures.
A variety of asset classes from oil to Japan's Nikkei Stock Average are now trading at around one-month highs, having walked back losses from late November when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 first emerged and sent investors scurrying for safe havens.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday said 1,577,417 tonnes of U.S. soybeans were inspected for export last week, which was within the range of trade estimates.
The agency also upwardly revised the prior week's soybean inspections total by more than 210,000 tonnes.
Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Dec. 21, regulatory data released on Monday showed.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and raised their net long position in soybeans.
Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
Source: Reuters