(Updates prices for market close; recasts headline, first paragraph, adds paragraphs 4 and 5)
* Market players monitoring US-Iran conflict
* Traders eye drought in the US Plains
CHICAGO, May 8 (Reuters) – Chicago soybean futures rose on Friday as market players anticipated that China may make a soybean purchase ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.
Corn and wheat futures ended higher after seesawing as market players continued to assess renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran, as well as weather forecasts in the drought-stricken U.S. wheat belts.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat rose 6-3/4 cents to settle at $6.19 per bushel. Soybeans gained 15-3/4 cents to $12.08 per bushel, while corn settled 3-3/4 cents higher to $4.71-1/4 per bushel.
Analysts think China will make a small purchase of soybeans, often called a goodwill purchase, ahead of the May 14-15 visit.
“The initial purchase is not likely to be a game-changer until they say ‘we’ll commit to a certain amount of purchases by the end of the season,'” said Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report.
Oil rose, providing limited support to grain futures. The U.S. said it expected an Iranian response as soon as Friday to its latest proposal to end the war, even as U.S. and Iranian forces clashed in the Gulf and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack.
“Futures are taking a bit of a pause today, and it’s a wait-and-see moment,” said Terry Linn, analyst at Linn and Associates, referencing uncertainty around the U.S.-Iran war.
Dealers are also monitoring weather in drought-hit U.S. wheat belts, where this week’s rainfall missed some critically dry areas and may have arrived too late or in insufficient amounts to prevent crop damage.
Some rain is forecast next week, but volumes are expected to be moderate, while a swing toward warmer weather could also heap stress onto the crop.
“This hard red winter crop has been through a lot. Wheat has nine lives, they say, but we’ve probably used up about eight of them,” Linn said. “There’s a realization that the crop has been hurt.” (Reporting by Heather Schlitz in Chicago. Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg. Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore. Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Rod Nickel)
