November 18, 2005

 

CBOT Corn Review on Thursday: Mixed, bearish trend continues

 

 

Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade settled fractionally mixed Thursday, with December and March futures reaching new contract lows once again as the market struggled to find fresh positive news, sources said.

 

December corn slipped 1/2 cent to US$1.92 1/4 per bushel after trading down to US$1.91 3/4, a new life-of-contract low. March edged 1/4 cent lower to US$2.06 1/2 after trading to US$2.05 1/2, another new low, with May corn declining 1/2 cent to US$2.15 per bushel.

 

"It was a grinding type of trade today," a commission house broker said. Firms were rolling out of their December positions into March and there was no fresh news to support the market, he added.

 

Rollover spread trading was a major theme, continuing its recent trend with market participants rolling out of their December positions into March.

 

Fimat was noted spreading 2,500 December-March, Man Financial bought 1,000 December-March, and Fimat bought 1,500 March-December.

 

Lingering concerns about the impact Asian bird flu might have on demand also limited buying interest, floor sources said. On Wednesday, futures declined in active trade on bird flu concerns in China.

 

Thursday morning's export sales came in a higher-than-expected 1.496.3 million metric tonnes, above the level expected by analysts. "It was a decent number but the market needs to see several of these types of weeks to believe that demand is picking up," a floor trader said.

 

Commodity fund selling was light in comparison to Wednesday's trade with selling estimated at 3,000 contracts.

 

Buyers on Thursday included ADM buying 600 December, Tenco buying 1,000 March, Citigroup buying 500 May, and DT trading buying 300 December.

 

Sellers Thursday included FCStone selling 500 December, Man Financial selling 1,000 March and 500 December, Tenco selling 500 December, JP Morgan selling 400 December and Calyon Financial selling 200 March.

 

Oat futures settled higher as light technical buying lifted prices. The December contract gained 2 1/2 cents to US$1.67 1/4 per bushel.

 

Ethanol futures settled mixed. The January contract did not trade and ended 2 cents lower at US$1.91 per gallon.