November 17, 2007

 

CBOT Corn Review on Friday: Ends higher on energy gains, speculative buys

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended with moderate gains Friday, boosted by stronger energy prices in light trade with speculative buying adding to the upside, an analyst said.

 

December corn settled 4 3/4 cents higher at US$3.79 1/2 per bushel and March also rallied 4 3/4 cents to US$3.96 1/2.

 

Corn enjoyed a quiet rally supported by gains in the energy markets, said Shawn McCambridge, senior grain analyst at Prudential Financial. Nearby crude oil settled up US$1.67 at US$95.10 per bushel. Precious metals prices were lower but did not have much of an impact on corn, he said.

 

The only news to influence market direction was weekly export sales, which were termed "favorable," by an analyst but within the range of estimates.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported weekly corn export sales were 1.364 million metric tonnes for the week ended Nov. 8, within the 800,000-to-1.5 million tonnes expected by analysts.

 

Export sales of corn were good but need to be strong in order to reach the USDA's export forecast this year, McCambridge said.

 

Sharply lower wheat futures had little negative impact, with corn supported by thin corn-wheat spreading, a trader said. December wheat settled at US$7.49 1/2, down 16 cents.

 

Weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar and short covering ahead of the weekend and after Thursday's declines also added to the upside, a commission house analyst said.

 

Commodity fund buying was estimated at 7,000 contracts.

 

On daily technical charts, electronically traded March remained below its 10-day moving average.

 

In options trading, RJ O'Brien sold 1,000 March US$3.90 puts and sold 1,000 December US$3.80 calls.

 

Oat futures settled lower as early fund selling and bear-market spreading pressured prices, an analyst said.

 

December oats declined 4 1/2 cents to US$2.80 per bushel and March settled 4 1/2 cents lower at US$2.93 1/2.

 

Ethanol futures ended lower. December ethanol slipped .003 cent to US$1.865 per gallon and January fell 1.5 cents to US$1.798.

 

Friday afternoon the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is scheduled to release the commitment of traders report for the period ending Nov. 13.

 

Monday, the USDA is scheduled to release the weekly export inspections report at 11 a.m. EST and the weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. EST.