October 20, 2006

 

CBOT Corn Outlook on Friday: 1-2 cents higher start on firm overnight tone

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures are predicted to start trading 1-2 cents higher Friday, following the firm tonnee in overnight activity, sources said.

 

In overnight e-CBOT trading, December corn ended 1 1/2 cents higher at US$3.17 1/2 cents per bushel and March rose 1 1/4 cents to US$3.28 1/4. e-CBOT volume in December was 6,796 contracts.

 

The market was firm overnight and corn should begin higher on follow through, a floor analyst said.

 

There is no fresh fundamental news out, but the market continues to be concerned about next year's crop. Questions about whether there will be enough acreage to produce enough corn for the expected demand continues to help support the market and limit price weakness, he added.

 

The market was higher overnight on light speculative buying and should start out firm, a floor source said. Trading could be choppy as some participants might want to trim some of their positions ahead of the weekend. Corn will look to wheat and soybeans for direction, with consolidation after the recent sharp rally possible, they added.

 

On technical charts, December corn bulls still need some fresh bullish fundamental news, a market technician said. The market is still a bit overdone on upside and is due for a decent corrective pullback soon, he added. First resistance for December corn is seen at US$3.21 1/2 and then at US$3.25. First support is pegged at US$3.13 1/2 and then at US$3.09 1/2.

 

Corn basis bids were unchanged to mostly higher Friday. Central Illinois was unchanged at 6 cents over the December future.

 

In other corn news, South Korea's Korea Feed Association, or KFA, purchased 52,000 metric tonnes of corn from China for early March delivery, sources said.

 

The Pusan branch of the Korea Feed Association bought 110,000 metric tonnes of optional-origin corn, a trader in Seoul said Friday.

 

Corn futures at China's Dalian Commodities Exchange settled slightly higher, with the May contract up RMB/2 to RMB 1,468/tonne.