SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans lost more ground on Monday as conflicting statements by U.S. and Chinese officials on talks to end the Washington-Beijing trade war added downward pressure on prices.

Corn and wheat slid for the first time in three sessions.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.2% to $10.57 a bushel as of 0009 GMT, corn gave up 0.6% to $4.82-3/4 a bushel and wheat dropped 0.4% to $5.43 a bushel.

* On Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not back President Donald Trump's assertion that tariff talks with China were underway, saying he did not know if the president had talked to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

* Last week, the Trump administration signalled openness to de-escalating a trade war between the world's two largest economies that has raised fears of recession. Trump said talks on tariffs were taking place with China and that he and Xi have spoken.

* Yet Beijing has denied that any trade talks are occurring.

* News last week that China has exempted some U.S. goods from its tariffs had allowed some hope for a de-escalation in trade tensions.

* Ukrainian farmers have sown 2 million hectares of grain as of April 24, however, the sowing acreage is 17% less than at the same date in 2024, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.

* Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to April 22, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.

 

MARKET NEWS

* Most stock indexes climbed on Friday, with Wall Street buoyed by technology-related shares, while the dollar had its first weekly rise in over a month as investors searched for signs that the U.S.-China trade war may be easing.

 

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 1000 France Unemp Class-A SA Mar (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sumana Nandy)