August 30, 2007

 

CBOT Corn Review on Wednesday: Drifts lower; lacks supportive inputs

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended lower Wednesday, backpedaling in light trade amid the absence of fresh supportive news.

 

September corn ended 4 1/2 cents lower at US$3.22 3/4, and December finished 4 1/2 cents lower at US$3.40 1/4.

 

The absence of supportive news to attract buyers kept corn grinding lower, with concerns over the potential for increased supplies as the fall harvest approaches keeping buyers cautious, analysts said.

 

Technical selling was featured as well, with bearish momentum a feature as active contracts trade firmly below major moving-average resistance, analysts added.

 

Otherwise, the market had few features to drive prices, with reports of better-than-expected yields in the southern belt encouraging participants to trim some length ahead of an extended holiday weekend, traders added.

 

Meanwhile, the DTN Meteorlogix forecast calls for generally dry conditions and warmer temperatures for several days in the Midwest following rains of up to one inch, with locally heavier amounts, in eastern Nebraska, northern Iowa, and southern Minnesota on Tuesday.

 

On tap for Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Analysts predict corn sales of 700,000 to 1,200,000 metric tonnes.

 

In pit trades, Tenco bought 1,000 March, JP Morgan bought 300 December, and MF Global bought 500 December. Sellers were scattered among various commission houses. Speculative fund selling was estimated at 2,000 lots.

 

CBOT oat futures ended mixed Wednesday, struggling to find direction, unwilling to follow the lead of other grain futures, traders said. Speculative funds were buyers of March and sellers of December contracts, traders said. Meanwhile, commercials were buying December and selling March. Otherwise, liquidation of September contracts were featured, with September/December moving out to 13 1/2 cents. September oats ended 1-cent lower at US$2.39 per bushel, and December oats ended unchanged at US$2.52 1/4.

 

Ethanol futures finished higher. September ethanol gained .037 cent to US$1.719 per gallon, and October ethanol settled up .001 cent at US$1.631.