December 2, 2006

 

CBOT Corn Review on Friday: Settles lower on profit taking

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended lower Friday in modest market activity as profit taking ahead of the weekend pressured prices, sources said.

 

December corn settled 3 cents lower at US$3.74 cents per bushel and March lost 3 1/2 cents to US$3.87. e-CBOT day session volume in March was 54,096 contracts.

 

The market took a breather Friday from recent volatility, a commission house analyst said. A lack of fund interest also limited the upside, sources said.

 

December marks the end of the month, the quarter and the year, and the funds may choose to liquidate some of their positions before the end of the year and ahead of the holidays, said John Kleist, senior grain analyst with Top Third Ag Marketing in Chicago.

 

Commodity fund selling was estimated at 2,000 contracts.

 

News that Taiwan had lifted an import ban on Chinese corn was viewed as slightly negative. China has strong demand but they also have a big crop, Kleist said.

 

Weaker soybean and soymeal prices weighed on the corn market for a large portion of the session, the commission house analyst said.

 

January soybeans settled 8 1/2 cents lower at US$6.77 cents per bushel and January soymeal fell US$5.60 to US$190.40.

 

Buyers Friday included Fimat, which bought 500 March, JP Morgan, which bought 200 March, and FC Stonnee, which bought 300 March.

 

FC Stonnee sold 500 March, Fimat sold 500 March, and UBS sold 300 March.

 

In options trading Rand Financial bought 3,000 March US$3.60 puts and sold 1,500 March US$4.00 calls.

 

Oat futures settled with thin losses in light trading as the market moved sideways in a slow session, a floor trader said.

 

December oats settled 3/4 cent lower at US$2.56 cents per bushel and March also fell 3/4 cent to US$2.68 1/4.

 

Ethanol futures ended mixed in light activity. The December contract rose 4 cents to US$2.315 cents per gallon. The January contract slipped 0.005 cent to US$2.225.

 

Friday afternoon the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is scheduled to release the latest commitment of traders report for the period ending Nov. 28.

 

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release the weekly export inspections report at 10:00 a.m. CST.