September 2, 2006

 

CBOT Corn Review on Friday: Lower on profit taking ahead of weekend

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures finished modestly lower Friday as profit taking ahead of the long holiday weekend, lower wheat values and the lack of fresh news weighed on the market, sources said.

 

September corn settled 2 cents lower at US$2.30, with December finishing down 2 1/4 cents at US$2.45 3/4. e-CBOT day session volume in December totaled 30,239 contracts.

 

"Corn had a little correction type trade today," said Shawn McCambridge, senior grain analyst at Prudential Financial. The market didn't have any fund support to speak of and wheat prices were lower as well, he said.

 

In addition, there wasn't a lot of fresh fundamental news off of which to trade, he added.

 

There was little speculative buying today, and people took the opportunity to take in some profits before the long weekend, a commercial analyst said.

 

The CBOT will be closed Monday in observance of Labor Day.

 

On open auction technical charts, December traded an inside day, between the highs and lows established in Thursday session. It remained above its 20-day moving average.

 

December corn ended the week 4 cents higher from last Friday's close.

 

Buyers Friday included Rand Financial, which bought 1,000 December, Shatkin which bought 600 December, Citigroup which bought 400 December and Tenco which bought 300 December.

 

O'Connor sold 1,000 December, Tenco sold 1,000 December, Fimat sold 500 December, and UBS sold 500 May.

 

Commodity fund selling was estimated at 1,100 contracts. In spread trading, Tenco bought 10,000 March-December.

 

Oat futures settled higher as light fund buying at several points during the session supported futures in a quiet session, floor traders said.

 

There was some commercial selling but the funds supported the market, a floor trader said.

 

September oats ended up 1 3/4 cents to US$1.83 3/4 per bushel and December gained 2 1/4 cents to US$1.93.

 

Ethanol futures settled mixed in light activity. September ethanol finished 1/2 cent lower at US$2.185 cents per gallon and October gained 1/2 cent to 2.185.

 

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release the weekly export inspections at 10:00 a.m. CDT and the weekly crop progress report at 3:00 p.m. CDT (2000 GMT).