Soybeans post longest weekly skid

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CHICAGO: US corn futures drifted to a one-week low as traders adjusted positions ahead of a monthly US government report that analysts expect to show rising grain inventories and big South American crops.

Soybeans closed narrowly mixed but the most-active contract posted a fifth weekly decline, its longest losing streak in 30 months, weighed down by rising global supplies.

Wheat ended little changed after a choppy session.

Chicago Board of Trade May corn settled down 1-1/4 cents at $3.59-1/2 per bushel.

May soybeans rose 1/2 cent to $9.42 a bushel and May wheat finished up 3/4 cent at $4.24 a bushel.

The US Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its monthly supply/demand report on Tuesday, and analysts surveyed by Reuters expect the government to raise its estimates of corn and soybean crops in the Southern Hemisphere.

"Trade is fully expecting to see larger crops for Argentina and Brazil; the only question is how much larger," MaxYield analyst Karl Setzer wrote in a note to clients.

Improving prospects for Brazil´s soy harvest and projections for a jump in US soybean plantings for 2017 have hung over soybean futures since early March.