South African maize futures drifted lower on Thursday after a relatively positive start as rand/US dollar strength weighed on market performance for the second straight session.
The local currency strengthened to 8.2362 to the greenback in intraday trading‚ from 8.3026 previously.
The near-dated July white maize contract shed R12 to R1‚992 per ton‚ September white maize gave up R6 to R2‚026 per ton‚ and December white maize was off R8 to R2‚074 per ton‚ according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The near-dated July yellow maize contract was down R7 to R1‚964 per ton‚ the September yellow maize contract was down R5 to R1‚995 per ton‚ while the December yellow maize contract shaved off R3 to R2‚037 per ton.
The July wheat contract was down R8 to R2‚877 per ton‚ September wheat slipped R4 to R2‚939 per ton and the December wheat contract shed R10.80 to R2‚898 per ton.
Meanwhile‚ US grain and soybean futures climbed during the electronic session‚ succumbing to a perfect storm of supportive price influences‚ according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Weakness in the US dollar‚ broader-based gains across most asset classes‚ and traders adding premium to prices in the face of subpar soil moisture in the Midwest buoyed prices‚ analysts said. - I-Net Bridge