Chicago: US grain futures eased on Friday, tracking a broader commodity sell-off after the debt of Italy and Spain was downgraded, with wheat and soybean futures each posting their fifth straight weekly loss.
Corn futures also fell on Friday but settled higher for the week, breaking a month-long losing streak.
Each commodity opened higher on the back of better US jobs data but the agriculture futures reversed course as the dollar strengthened after credit rating agency Fitch cut the credit ratings, adding to the bad news in Europe's credit and banking crisis.
The US harvest is advancing under perfect weather conditions, further pressuring corn and soy futures, with soybeans posting their longest stretch of declines in two years and easing 20 per cent in about a month.
"We stumbled into the close," said Jerry Gidel, analyst at North American Risk Management Inc in Chicago. "The biggest problem is that we have harvest pressure that seems like it's going to last forever."
Traders were reluctant to invest more money in grain futures until there were clearer signals on Europe's debt crisis, which has dominated trading all week along with the gyrating dollar.
Volatile trading was expected ahead of the monthly US Agriculture Department crop report, due on Wednesday.
Corn futures for December delivery shed 5-1/2 cents on Friday to settle even at the psychological threshold of $6.00 per bushel at at the Chicago Board of Trade, gaining 1.7 per cent for the week.
CBOT November soybeans finished 5-1/2 cents lower at $11.58-1/4, losing 1.4 per cent for the week and closing near a one-year low.
"The dominant issue is harvest," said Don Roose, analyst at US Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa. "Yields are hard to get a gauge on but it looks like [corn] yields in the western belt are bigger."
