41.   In other commodities, soybean futures tumbled to post steep losses Thursday at the Chicago Board of Trade, pressured mostly by bearish U.S. and Brazil crop estimates.

42.   Market-watchers said the increase was prompted by expectations for a bullish crop estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday and also by economic jitters.

43.   Prices have been retreating after a rally following news of a lower-than-expected Florida crop production estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Tuesday.

44.   Soybean and grain prices retreated Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade amid uneasiness over harvest pressures and impending crop estimates.

45.   Soybean futures tumbled, in a selloff sparked by talk of harvest progress and worries that the USDA would publish a large crop estimate Thursday.

46.   Soybean prices also rose modestly as traders responded to lower-than-expected crop estimates.

47.   The crop estimates are the last the USDA will release this year.

48.   The market has been trading below Agriculture Department crop estimates, but the new number reinforces ideas of a poorer harvest than expected.

49.   The next crop estimate will be released later this week.

50.   The steep decline in wheat triggered late-session selling in corn and soybeans, which ended lower despite shrinking U.S. crop estimates.