Futures weakened. The USD index was holding just under 93.

• Chicago wheat December contract down US9.75cents per bushel to 588.25c;
• Kansas wheat December contract down 10.25c/bu to 544c;
• Minneapolis wheat December contract down 6c/bu to 549c;
• MATIF wheat December contract down €1.75/t to €209.50;
• Corn December contract down 9c/bu to 408.25c;
• Soybeans January contract down 7c/bu to 1145.5c;
• Winnipeg canola January contract up C$1.50/t to $559.90/t;
• MATIF rapeseed February contract down €2.75/t to €406.25;
• Brent crude January down  US$0.27 per barrel to $43.53;
• Dow Jones index down 317 points  to 29,080;
• AUD weaker at $0.723;
• CAD weaker at $1.313;
• EUR firmer at $1.181.
  

International

• With all eyes on the weather situation in both South America and the Black Sea, we note that the US Climate Prediction Centre updated its El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) forecasts last night. The Jan-Mar period is predicted at 95% probability of La Niña and March-May, 65pc.
• Following the recent announcement allowing private barley imports, Saudi Arabia’s SAGO is back again with a new tender for twelve boats of barley for Jan/Feb windows.  Aussie barley is sharply competitive for those with elevation slots available although, as always it’s an optional origin tender that can see vessels’ country of origin shift prior to shipment.
• No new flash sales from the USDA over yesterday, holiday, and today. Regular export sales reports are due out tomorrow.
• The Rosario Grains Exchange in Argentina has yet again cut its wheat estimate to 16.7 million tonnes, reiterating the yield damage done by mid- and late-season weather stress
• Weekly US ethanol production confirmed higher output, production had lifted to 977,000 bpd, but also reflected a large stocks growth. Stock was reported 484,000 barrels higher than previous week.
• The rally this week seems to have broken loose some more US grain, with basis for both corn and beans reported down in many zones through the last 2 days.

Australia

• East coast wheat cash boards were softer by $1-2/t while barley cash bids were either unchanged or 50 cents stronger
• Bids in the west were relatively unchanged for wheat and barley with wheat APWMG valued around $335/t FIS and with barley at $265/t FIS
• Canola struggled to keep its hot run-up with bids pulling back $2-3/t across the boards
• Rain pushed through parts of Victoria causing some harvest delays but expected resume over the weekend
• Forecast now has a clear run for most areas to get a good run at harvest over the next 7-10 days