Uncertainty about prospects for progress in this week's US-China trade talks hung over the market. Tensions were high after US officials announced criminal charges against China's telecom giant Huawei for violating US sanctions against Iran.
Additional pressure noted from forecasts for improving South American crop weather, including beneficial rains next week in Brazil and a welcome drier pattern in Argentina. The European Commission said it had concluded that US soyabeans can be used in biofuels in the European Union, part of the bloc's push to improve strained trade relations with the United States.