January 24, 2006
CBOT Corn Outlook on Tuesday: Steady, looking for direction
Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade are called to open steady Tuesday with a lack of fresh news expected to limit price volatility, sources said.
In overnight e-CBOT trading, March corn rose 1/4 cent to US$2.08 1/2 per bushel, May corn also increased 1/4 cent to US$2.18 1/2, and July corn gained 1/2 cent to US$2.27 3/4.
There's not much fresh news, which could limit activity, a floor analyst said. Outside markets are lower, and it rained overnight in South America, he said. It could be turnaround Tuesday, he added, but there is nothing to move the market strongly either way.
It was a quiet overnight session, and crude oil is lower, but any price weakness should be offset by good support at lower levels, a commission house analyst said. Good commercial related buying has been evident over the past several trading sessions helping to underpin prices, he said.
March corn settled right at its 50-day moving average and it could draw some interest, but the market is searching for direction, the analyst said.
Scattered rain showers occurred Monday in sections of Argentina with additional scattered precipitation forecast Tuesday, DTN Meteorlogix weather said. Clearing weather moves into the region on Wednesday, with mostly dry weather expected for the weekend. Temperatures expected to be normal to above nornal for the period, Meteorlogix added.
Cash corn basis bids were unchanged to mostly higher Tuesday morning. Central Illinois was unchanged at 3 cents over the March, with St. Louis it was also unchanged at 8 cents over the March future.
On technical charts, it will take a close above US$2.15 in March futures to provide the bulls with some fresh upside technical momentum, a technical analyst said. First resistance for March corn is seen at US$2.08 1/2, Monday's high and then at US$2.10. First support is seen at US$2.07, and then at US$2.05 1/2, Monday's low.
Corn futures traded on China's Dalian Futures Exchange finished slightly lower Tuesday. The most-active September contract fell RMB2, ending at RMB1,382/tonne.
