CHICAGO, June 22 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures fell on Thursday, pressured by a round of profit-taking and some weather outlooks that called for relief to drought stricken crops in the U.S. Midwest, traders said.
"The markets have obviously been overbought on the run-up here on weather," said Mark Soderberg, grains research analyst at ADM Investor Services. "Some of the long range models are hinting at better prospects for rain."
Weakness in the cash market, stemming from a round of farmer selling of both commodities, also weighed on futures prices, traders said.
Soybeans notched the biggest declines, with the most-active contract sagging 2.7% as the forecasted rains would arrive in time to stanch the damage to soy crops, Soderberg said. But the dry conditions likely have already pulled the prospects for corn harvest below the U.S. Agriculture Department's official projections of a record harvest.
Wheat futures firmed slightly, but closed below session peaks as traders locked in profits after prices for the most-active Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract hit a four-month high. The market was underpinned by concerns about global supply disruptions stemming from the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Russia is 99.9% certain to quit a U.N.-brokered deal on the safe wartime passage of Black Sea grain next month because it no longer needs Ukrainian ports to export ammonia, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said.
CBOT November soybean futures settled down 37-1/2 cents at $13.39-1/2 a bushel and CBOT December corn futures were off 8 cents at $6.20-3/4 a bushel.
On Wednesday, December corn hit its highest since Nov. 1 and November soybeans touched a 3-1/2-month high.
"Speculative funds have no reason to be short corn and soybeans as long as the crops are deteriorating, but recent profits are too tempting to leave on the table when the market is so overbought," StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman said in a note to clients.
CBOT September soft red winter wheat gained 4-1/2 cents to $7.52-3/4 a bushel. (Additional reporting by Matthew Chye in Singapore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Sherry Jacob-Phillips, David Evans and Shailesh Kuber)
