CHICAGO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures settled mixed on Thursday, with wheat and corn falling sharply for the second consecutive day on heavy fund selling.
The most active wheat contract for May delivery was down 11.75 cents, or 2.61 percent to close at 4.3825 dollars per bushel. May corn was down 7.25 cents, or 1.95 percent, to settle at 3.6525 dollars per bushel. May soybeans were up 0.5 cent, or 0.06 percent, to close at 9.025 dollars per bushel.
Bearish momentum continued in CBOT grains, with massive selling in corn and wheat, despite good performance in the latest weekly export sales report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed on Thursday that for the period of February 22-28, exporters reported 1.25 million metric tons of corn sales, compared with the trade's expectations of between 700,000 and 1.7 million metric tons.
U.S. exporters also reported 826,700 metric tons of wheat sales during the same period, versus the trade's expectations of between 200,000 and 550,000 metric tons.
But the export figures failed to support CBOT grain futures.
"We're seeing forced liquidation and just a snowball effect as we continue to roll over very hard as a selling accelerates," said Oliver Sloup, a market analyst with Blue Line Futures.
Only CBOT soybeans managed to close in the positive territory on Thursday, supported by hopes for a highly anticipated trade deal with China. Enditem
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