U.S. grain and soybean futures ended mixed Tuesday, pressured by selling from investors seeking to cut their exposure to risk amid a lack of news affecting fundamentals.

Corn, wheat and soybean futures fell for most of the session in choppy, low-volume trading, led for most of the day by soybeans. There was little buzz in the market to attract speculative buyers, said Jack Scoville, vice president of brokerage Price Futures Group in Chicago.

However, soybean futures managed to edge higher at the close of trading, as investors evened trades established earlier in the day.

Chicago Board of Trade soybeans for January delivery finished up 1 3/4 cents, or 0.1%, at $14.55 1/2.

"No news is not good news for prices going higher," Mr. Scoville said.

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Investors were pulling back bets on prices rising, disheartened by the lack of movement by lawmakers in Washington to avert the "fiscal cliff." Traders were also disappointed a private forecaster didn't cut its South American crop estimates for grains and soybeans as much as expected.

Wheat futures ended lower, but drew support from traders monitoring crops in Australia and the U.S. on concerns about dry weather in the two countries.
March wheat futures ended down 4 1/4 cents, or 0.5%, to $8.56 1/2 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. Kansas City Board of Trade March wheat dropped 4 1/4 cents, or 0.5%, to $9.02 1/2 a bushel. MGEX March wheat finished down 3 cents, or 0.3%, at $9.29 1/4 a bushel.

CBOT March corn finished down 2 3/4 cents, or 0.4%, to $7.52.

Write to Andrew Johnson Jr. at andrew.johnsonjr@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 04, 2012 15:51 ET (20:51 GMT)
DJ U.S. Grain, Soy Futures End Mixed; Traders Shed Risk->copyright