December 3, 2005
CBOT Corn Review on Friday: Ends mostly lower as buying fades
Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade settled mostly lower Friday, as early buying interest gave way to thin selling late in the session, traders said.
December corn finished 1/2 cent higher at US$1.89 3/4 per bushel, March slipped 1/2 cent to US$2.03 1/4, and May corn also fell 1/2 cent to US$2.11 3/4.
The market was supported by light technical strength, but was unable to hold those gains, reflecting the lack of fundamental direction, said Shawn McCambridge, senior grain analyst with Prudential Financial in Chicago.
There was no feature Friday and the market appears to be comfortable after the recent bounce off of contract lows, he added.
Late losses in wheat futures added to the weak tonnee late, a commission house broker said, with the lack of fresh news keeping futures within relatively narrow ranges.
Favorable weather conditions in Argentina's corn producing areas also limited buying, interest sources said. Scattered rain is forecast over the weekend, DTN Meteorlogix weather said.
Buyers on Friday included ABN Amro buying 500 March, Fimat buying 600 March, Man Financial buying 700 March, and the Refco division of Man Financial buying 500 March.
Sellers Friday included Cargill selling 500 March, O'Connor selling 1,000 March, and Tenco selling 200 March.
In spread trading, ADM spread 1,500 December-March.
Commodity fund buying was estimated at 1,500 contracts.
Oat futures settled higher as technical buying, thought to be fund related, pushed prices higher after the March future scored a new contract high, traders said. The December contract rallied 4 cents to settle at US$2.04, with the March contract jumping 5 cents to US$1.90 3/4.
Ethanol futures settled mixed. The January contract didn't trade but ended 1 cent higher to US$1.87 1/2 cents per gallon.
Friday afternoon, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is scheduled to release the latest Commitment of Traders Report.
