July 28, 2007

 

CBOT Corn Review on Friday: Settles higher on short coverings

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures settled higher as short covering before the weekend took prices near their highs after a day of choppy trade, analysts said.

 

September corn settled up 3 1/2 cents at US$3.21 per bushel, December rose 3 1/2 cents to US$3.36 1/2, and March ended up 3 1/4 cents at US$3.51 3/4.

 

A lack of price trends one way or the other prompted traders to liquidate their positions Friday, said Ross Carstens, analyst with Commodity Services.

 

"There's a lack of direction in the market," Carstens said. "Why risk it over the weekend."

 

Midday weather forecasts brought price uncertainty, with unchanged near-term predictions of little rain in the Midwest, but increased rain chances next week, analysts said.

 

"There's enough uncertainly to keep the market from doing too much," Carstens said.

 

Weather forecasts predict mostly dry conditions in the corn belt until the middle of next week, with the exception of some expected thunderstorms in Nebraska. However, the heaviest rainfalls are not expected to fall in the driest northeast areas of the state, T-storm weather said.

 

Rain chances increase for drier portions of the northwestern corn belt toward the middle of next week, with little chances of severe heat, T-storm weather said.

 

Traders also turned some focus to expected crop progress ratings to be released Monday, analysts said. Crop condition ratings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are expected to be unchanged to slightly lower, a floor manager said, with concerns of crop decline in the northwestern corn belt.

 

On the daily technical charts, December corn traded below its major moving averages and on an inside day, between the high and low established in Thursday's session.

 

In open auction trading, ADM bought 500 September, Citigroup bought 400 December and Man Financial bought 200 December.

 

In options trading, ADM bought 1,000 December US$4.40 calls. Citigroup bought 500 July US$4.00 calls, and sold 500 July 4.60 calls and 500 July US$3.20 puts.

 

CBOT oat futures ended mixed Friday after a day of light trade with fund and speculative selling and light bear spreading. Traders were noted sellers of September and buyers of December, a trader said. The U.S. harvest also added pressure, a trader said. 
 

September oats ended up 1 cent at US$2.56 per bushel, and December settled down 1/4 cent at US$2.62 3/4.

 

Ethanol futures finished mixed in light trade. August ethanol settled 1.5 cents lower at US$1.964 per gallon and September ended 2.6 cents higher at US$1.870.

 

Friday afternoon, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is scheduled to release the weekly commitments of traders for the period ended July 24. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release the weekly export inspections report at 11 a.m. EDT and the weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. EDT.