Corn futures fall over 1% as dollar powers up
Most agricultural commodities fell on Thursday as the dollar rallied against most major rivals, pressuring grains and other commodities.
The Russian government announced its return to the grains export deal from the Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea after a two-day suspension.
Brazil soybeans production outlook remains strong with analysts expecting the Latin country to produce 154.35 million tones in the 2022/2023 season, up from 153.8 million tones before. .
In tandem, US soybean harvest frequency is declining, with 88% of the harvest already completed according to official data, while corn harvest is 76% complete.
Argentina is preparing to announce measures to allow wheat exporters to delay shipments after a dry wave that hurt the harvests.
Drought could also cause severe damages to grain harvests in the US, with the government only assessing 28% of the wheat harvest as good to excellent, the lowest such rating since 1987.
The dollar index rose 1.5% to 112.9 as of 19:42 GMT, with a session-high at 113.1, and a low at 111.8.
Corn
Corn futures due in December closed 1.2% down at $6.79 a bushel.
Soybeans
Soybean futures due in November fell 1.2% to $14.37 a bushel.
Wheat
Wheat futures due in December declined 0.7% to $8.40 a bushel.
Wall Street tumbles over 1%
US stock indices declined on Thursday under pressure from Wall Street after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's statements.
As expected, the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 75 basis points to 4%, the highest since late 2007, and the fourth such increase in a row.
The Fed asserted its battle against inflation requires further increases to borrowing costs to bring prices down again.
Powell
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said recent data shows the final levels of interest rates might be higher than previously expected.
Such statements bolstered the case for more aggressive policy tightening by the Fed through March 2023, with 0.75% rate hike odds now increasing from 34% to 43%.
Earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell to 217 thousand last week from 218 thousand in the previous reading.
Dow Jones fell 1.1%, or 370 points to 32,780 as of 13:56 GMT, as S&P 500 fell 1.5%, or 55 points to 3,705, while NASDAQ shed 1.7%, or 184 points to 10,341.
