CANBERRA: Chicago wheat futures fell to a 10-week low on Wednesday after the U.S. dollar surged to its strongest level since May and rain in U.S. cropping areas improved the supply outlook.

Soybean futures were little changed after plunging on Tuesday, when President-elect Donald Trump chose former Congressman Lee Zeldin as the new head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Traders see Zeldin as a sceptic of the biofuel industry.

Corn slipped slightly.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 0.5% at $5.49-1/4 a bushel at 0141 GMT after falling to $5.46-1/2, its lowest since Sept. 3.

* CBOT soybeans were flat at $10.10-3/4 a bushel and corn slipped 0.2% to $4.27-1/2 a bushel.

* The dollar held near its six-month high against a basket of currencies, making greenback-priced U.S. crops less attractive to overseas buyers holding other currencies.

* Wheat has trended lower in the recent weeks as rain eased dry conditions in the U.S., the Black Sea and Argentina, where harvest is getting underway. Meanwhile, dry weather improved the sowing conditions in waterlogged Western Europe.

* Prices are nearing July's four-year low of $5.14-1/2.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday rated 44% of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good-to-excellent condition, up three percentage points from last week following a much-needed rainfall in the Plains.

* France's farm ministry slightly raised its estimate of the country's 2024 soft wheat and corn output.

* Soybean futures were pressured by a 4% fall in CBOT soyoil futures on Tuesday, after Zeldin was nominated as the EPA chief. CBOT soyoil was down a further 0.5% on Wednesday.

 

MARKETS NEWS

* A gauge of global stocks declined on Tuesday after advancing for five straight sessions, while the dollar hit a six-month high as investors weigh the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's likely path of policies. (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sumana Nandy)