Investing.com - U.S. soybean futures held near a four-year low on Wednesday, as investors squared positions ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s closely-watched monthly crop supply and demand report due on Thursday.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, U.S. soybeans for November delivery fell to a daily low of $9.9220 a bushel, a level not seen since July 2010, before turning modestly higher to last trade at $9.9313 during U.S. morning hours, up 0.05%, or 0.53 cents.
The November soy contract lost 1.56%, or 15.6 cents, on Tuesday to end at $9.9260 a bushel amid ongoing indications this year's crop would be by far the largest in history.
The USDA is set to update its supply and demand forecasts on September 11.
According to market analysts, the agency could say that this fall's U.S. harvest will reach an all-time high of 3.89 billion bushels, up from a previous estimate of 3.82 billion bushels in August.
Meanwhile, U.S. corn for December delivery slumped to a session low of $3.4300 a bushel, the weakest level since June 2010, before turning 0.3 cents higher to trade at $3.4363.
A day earlier, the December corn contract tumbled 1.15%, or 4.0 cents, to settle at $3.4420 amid ongoing expectations of record yields across much of the U.S. grain belt.
The USDA was expected to raise its U.S. production estimate to a record-high of 14.27 billion bushels from a previous estimate of 14.03 billion bushels.
Elsewhere on the CBOT, U.S. wheat for December delivery slumped 0.43%, or 2.27 cents, to trade at $5.2513 a bushel.
The December wheat contract hit a six-week low of $5.2320 on Tuesday, as continued strength in the U.S. dollar and plentiful global supplies weighed.
A stronger dollar makes domestic wheat less competitive on the world market.
The USDA is expected to raise its forecast for global wheat ending stocks in 2014/15 to 193.75 million tons, up from the last estimate of 192.96 million tons in August.
Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, followed by soybeans, government figures show. Wheat was fourth, behind hay.