The CME Group corn, soybean and wheat markets are expected to trade higher Thursday, unless the bearish weekly export sales pulls them down.

The early calls for the commodities on Thursday, October 18, 2012, are higher. Corn is seen opening 4 to 6 cents higher, soybeans 12 to 14 cents higher, and wheat 6 to 8 cents higher.

In overnight trading, the December corn futures contract traded 4 cents higher at $7.49 per bushel. November soybean futures traded 16 cents higher at $15.26 per bushel, and December wheat traded 6 cents higher at $8.62. For December soybean meal futures, the contract traded $4.50 per short ton higher at $459.20. December soybean oil futures traded 47 cents higher at $51.50.

The outside markets are unfavorable for Thursday's grain trade. The real factors driving the calls will be the higher overnight markets.

Discuss the corn, soybean and wheat markets in Marketing Talk.

EXPORT SALES

On Thursday, the USDA released a bearish Weekly Export Sales Report for corn and soybeans.

For U.S. corn sales, as of Sunday, USDA estimates the exports at 166,700 mt vs. the trade's expectation of 200,000 to 300,000 mt.

Soybean sales were pegged at 525,200 mt vs. the expectations of 650,000 to 850,000 mt. For wheat, USDA estimates weekly sales at 410,000 mt. vs. the expectations of 250,000 to 400,000 mt. Soybean meals sales totaled 146,000 mt. vs. the expected range of 180,000 to 240,000 mt.