New York, June 4 - U.S. orange juice futures prices hit a year low on Monday as heavy rains from tropical storm Barry led to speculation that a drought may end soon in top orange-growing state Florida.
In other agricultural markets, soybeans closed down on technical selling, giving up their gains after hitting a three-year high. Corn and wheat ended lower too.
In metals, copper and gold breached two-week highs before settling mixed.
On the energy front, oil surged past $70 a barrel on news that a cyclone was headed toward the oil-producing Arabian peninsula with potential to disrupt shipping and output.
In orange juice, the market sank from the opening bell as successive waves of speculative selling pressured prices down.
The New York Board of Trade's frozen concentrated orange juice contract for July delivery dove 5.60 cents, or 3.6 percent, to end at $1.4905 per lb, trading from $1.475 to $1.5385.
It was the lowest close for juice since it traded at around $1.45 in April 2006.
"We got hit by funds who sold ..., especially with the rains in Florida in the background of this thing," a juice dealer said. "It may be a bit overdone, so we could see a bounce tomorrow."
The focus of the trade is on new-crop prospects and any sign that a hurricane would pose a menace to Florida's citrus groves, which have barely recovered from the four storms that struck the region in 2004 and 2005.
Private weather forecaster DTN Meteorlogix said on Monday that Florida would be mostly dry with a few showers through Friday. It said Brazil, the world's largest citrus producer, would be mostly dry through Friday.
SOY DOWN AFTER 3-YR HIGH, METALS MIXED
Soybean futures jumped to a new peak since 2004 before falling on fears that the market had been overbought.
"The emphasis is on next year's low stockpile projection for soybeans, which is attracting speculative money. But we are approaching overbought technicals," said Gavin Maguire, an analyst for Iowa Grain.
CBOT soy closed 2-1/2 cents per bushel lower to 3 higher, with July down 1-3/4 at $8.15-3/4 per bushel.
Most-active copper for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division settled up 6.30 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $3.4680 a lb, its loftiest close since May 15, after trading a session range between $3.3750-$3.4895.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange ended up $175, or 2.3 percent, at $7,625 a tonne.
In gold, COMEX's benchmark contract for August ended down 60 cents at $676.30 an ounce. It reached up to $679.50, a high dating going back to May 15. The session low at $674.80.
In oil, London Brent crude, currently seen as a better gauge of the global market than U.S. crude, ended up $1.33 cents at $70.40, off a session high of $70.63.
U.S. crude settled up $1.13 cents at $66.21.