U.S. rice futures fell the daily limit for a second straight session Tuesday as investors bet that more Asian countries will lift export bans on the staple food, boosting global supplies.Other commodities traded mostly lower Tuesday on a stronger dollar, with gold, silver, crude oil and corn futures all falling. The Cambodian government said Monday it had lifted its two-month ban on rice exports, declaring that the measure had helped stabilize domestic prices. Beginning Tuesday, rice exports can be resumed for some 1 million tons of milled rice Cambodia has in excess of its needs for domestic consumption, Prime Minister Hun Sen said.

The move follows a decision earlier this month by Pakistan to lift its rice export ban, easing concerns of a global rice shortage that has sent prices spiraling up more than 80 percent in the last year and sparked riots in Haiti, Senegal and other poor countries.



Though not a major rice exporter, Cambodia could prompt Vietnam, the world's No. 2 rice exporter, to lift its rice export ban, said Neauman Coleman, analyst and a principal of Neauman Coleman & Co., a rice brokerage in Brinkley, Ark. India, the world's second largest rice producer, is also expected to allow some rice exports, while new crops other countries are also easing supply worries.

"Virtually every 90 days around the world there is a new crop of rice being harvested or produced, so the fear that gripped our market is being revealed as just fear," Coleman said. "You are going to have more production and all these fears are going to subside."

Rough rice futures for July delivery fell the maximum allowed 75 cents to settle at $19.60 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract has fallen 20 percent from its all-time trading record of $25.07, reached April 24.

Other agriculture futures traded mostly lower. Soybeans for July delivery fell 20.25 cents to settle at $13.4775 a bushel on the CBOT, and July corn dropped 1.75 cents to settle at $5.98 a bushel. July wheat, meanwhile, added 6.5 cents to settle at $7.59 a bushel.

In energy futures, crude oil prices fell more than $3 a barrel on speculation that soaring prices have slowed demand for fuel at the start of the busy summer driving season.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $3.34 to settle at $128.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but later dropped as low as $128.18 in after-hours electronic trading. It was oil's biggest one-day decline since March 31. Prices spiked $135.09 a barrel on Thursday.

Other energy futures traded mixed. June gasoline futures fell 1.3 cents to settle at $3.383 a gallon, and June heating oil futures fell 6.64 cents to settle at $3.7992 a gallon.

In precious metals, gold futures sank nearly $20 after the dollar strengthened against the euro, diminishing investors' appetite for the metal viewed as a hedge against inflation.

Gold for June delivery fell $17.90 to settle at $907.90 an ounce on the Nymex, after earlier dropping as low as $903.30.

Other precious metals also traded lower. July silver gave up 82.5 cents to settle at $17.465 an ounce, while July copper lost 2 cents to settle at $3.716 a pound.

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