April 19, 2006

 

CBOT Corn Outlook on Wednesday: Called up 1-2 cents on e-CBOT, follow through

 

 

Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade are expected to begin trading 1 to 2 cents higher Wednesday on firm prices in overnight trading and follow through from Tuesday's session, sources said.

 

In overnight e-CBOT trading, May corn rose 2 1/2 cents to US$2.41 3/4, July gained 2 1/2 cents to US$2.53 1/4, and December added on 2 1/4 cents to US$2.74 1/2.

 

Follow through buying from the overnight trade and from Tuesday's firm close should benefit corn, a floor analyst said. In addition, whether it's right or wrong, the market is still concerned about the need to get the corn planted, he added.

 

At this time of the year, the market adds in premium and this year with the lower planted acreage estimate, the market is skittish ahead of the growing season, a floor trader said.

 

Outside markets might also impact prices, gold and silver are higher and could act as support for commodity prices in general, he added.

 

In the western U.S. Midwest mainly dry conditions are forecast for much of the region through Saturday, except for light rain in the Dakotas and Minnesota Wednesday and Thursday, DTN Meteorlogix Weather said. There is a chance for showers to develop on Sunday in the western and southern areas of the region on Sunday. Temperatures are expected to average near to above normal.

 

In the eastern U.S. Midwest, showers and light rain are forecast into Friday in the northern and eastern Midwest and southern Delta, DTN Meteorlogix Weather said. Amounts should average 0.30-1.00 inch and locally heavier in the Delta and 0.10-0.50 inch elsewhere in the region. Temperatures are expected to average near to above normal through Thursday and near to below normal Friday. Mainly dry weather is expected for the weekend.

 

On technical charts, July corn is in the middle of a congestion area, bound by strong overhead technical resistance at the April high of US$2.55 and the top of an upside price gap on the daily bar charts of US$2.45, a technical analyst says. First resistance for July corn is seen at US$2.52, Tuesday's high and then at US$2.55, the technical analyst said. He pegs first support at US$2.49, Tuesday's low and then at US$2.46 1/2.

 

In other corn news, corn prices in China were little changed in the country's major producing regions, analyst said. Although farmer selling is down due to spring farm work, traders and corn processor demand has not recovered from concerns over bird flu, an analyst said.

 

Corn futures on China's Dalian futures exchange ended slightly higher with the January contract settling RMB6 higher at RMB1,409/tonne.