October 14, 2005
CBOT Corn Outlook on Friday: Expected steady to firm on good exports
Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade are expected to open steady to firm Friday, supported by good export sales as reported by the government Friday morning, sources said.
In overnight e-CBOT trading, December corn slipped 1/2 cent to US$2.03 cents per bushel. March corn fell 3/4 cent to US$2.15 1/2 per bushel, while May corn gained 1/4 cent to US$2.24 1/4 per bushel.
"Decent export sales could lead to end user buying, said Brian Hoops President of Midwest Marketing Solutions in Yankton, S.D. Corn could also be pulled higher by stronger soybean futures, he added.
U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday that weekly corn exports were 933,300 metric tonnes for the week ended Oct. 6. Traders expected sales to be between 700,000 and 900,000 metric tonnes.
Soybean futures are expected to open higher on ideas of a post-harvest rally as the harvest has past the half-way point, traders said.
"Bulls now need some fresh bullish fundamental news to break prices out above the recent trading range," said technical analyst Jim Wyckoff. He pegs first resistance for December corn at Thursday's high of US$2.05 1/4, and then at US$2.07 1/2. He sees first support at Thursday's low of US$2.02 3/4 and then the contract low of US$2.01 3/4.
The market continues to trade within a tight trading range as the second largest crop on record, extremely high barge freight values and large ending stocks have combined to dampen buying enthusiasm.
Active corn harvesting is expected over the next several days as favorable weather is expected across much of the U.S. Midwest, DTN Meteorlogix weather said.
Corn basis bids were unchanged to higher Friday morning. Central Illinois was unchanged at 18 cents under December, while St. Louis was also unchanged at 37 cents under December.
Corn futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange settled lower on Friday with the most-active May contract down RMB7/tonne to RMB1,288/tonne.
