Soybeans rise 1% as dollar falls off week high

Soybean futures rose one percent in American trade to June 25 highs as the dollar index backed off July 20 highs for another session, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest soybean producer and exporter. 

As of 07:15 GMT, soybean futures due on September 15 rose 0.65% to $8.910 a bushel from the opening of $8.8525, while the dollar index slipped 0.36% to 94.32 from the opening of 94.67. 

Earlier US data showed pending home sales rose 0.9% m/m in June, compared to a 0.5% drop in May, and beating expectations of a 0.4% increase, while on a yearly basis, sales fell 4.0%, sharpening a 2.8% decline in May.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin lauded the the recent 4.1% growth rate for the economy in the second quarter, expecting a few years of sustained growth above 3%. 

He said that US President Donald Trump's talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker were focused on removing barriers before the American agricultural sector, and on inflation, he conceded that the Federal Reserve has to increase interest rates as the economy gears up and grows faster. 

USDA Reports Sales, Inventories, Forecasts 

The US Department of Agriculture recently released its monthly global demand and supply report, which cut forecasts for US soybean exports to 2.04 billion bushels from 2.29 billion in June due to US-China trade tensions.  

The USDA raised forecasts for US soybean inventories in the marketing year 2018-2019 to 580 million bushels from 385 million bushels in previous June forecasts, while raising estimates for US output to 4.31 billion bushels from 4.28 billion. 

The USDA also reported soybean sales due for the marketing year 2017-2018 at 538.1 thousand tonnes in the week ending July 19, up from 252.3 thousand in the previous reading, and up 59% from four-week averages. 

Netherlands came at the top of the buyers list at 143.3 thousand tonnes, followed by Egypt at 141.4 thousand, Mexico and Germany at 92.5 thousand and 58.2 thousand respectively, and Canada at 49.7 thousand. 

On the same note, US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a $12 billion grant for farmers in food purchases and trade incentives to counter the harm done by the tariff war with China and the European Union.