eCBOT Close, Early Call

The overnight markets closed mostly lower with beans down around 7-11 cents, corn around 2-5 cents lower and wheat mixed either side of unchanged.

In a relatively quiet start to the week, European stocks are marginally higher and crude oil is steady around $60/barrel.

Various US banks are set to report on earnings this week, with a raft of other US data due including housing statistics, retail sales, inflation and the regular weekly crude oil stocks. These will likely decide which direction the market takes this week, based on clues as to whether there are any signs of a recovery peeking through.

The weekend weather in the US was largely warm and wet, ideal for corn and soybeans, although less so for winter wheat harvesting.

Tonight we see the USDA's crop progress report, with improvements likely from corn and beans, although spring wheat crop conditions may deteriorate again.

South Korea bought 110,000 MT of US/optional origin corn overnight, Zambia is in the market for a similar amount.

Monsoon rains in northern India continue to be less than ideal, prompting some concern over oilseeds grown in the region.

Speculative funds added nearly 12,000 contracts to their corn shorts last week, according to the CFTC.

Early calls for this afternoon's CBOT session: corn called 2 to 3 lower; soybeans called 7 to 10 lower; wheat called 1 to 3 lower.