December 4, 2007

 

CBOT Corn Review on Monday: Settles higher as late soy rally supports

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures finished with light gains Monday, but well below earlier levels in two-sided trade.

 

March corn settled 2 cents higher at US$4.03 1/2 per bushel.

 

Corn was supported early in the session as the some reallocation of positions led to buying in corn, said Jason Britt, a broker/analyst at Central States Commodities in Kansas City. Participants were buying corn and selling wheat and soybeans against it, said Britt.

 

Technical-related selling near the US$4.10 level helped trim the gains, as did the lack of additional buying interest, with some traders taking profits, said Britt.

 

Corn turned lower in late activity on speculative selling, but a late rally in soybeans to session highs spilled over into corn and provided support near the close, an analyst said.

 

January soybeans settled 1 1/4 cents lower to US$10.78 3/4.

 

"Goofy price swings happen in December as people liquidate positions, reallocate positions or take profits," a trader said.

 

The market had little reaction to the weekly export-inspections report, a trader said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that 55.618 million bushels were inspected for the week ended Nov. 29, above the 47-52 million expected by analysts as well as the 53.121 million inspected the previous week.

 

Market direction Tuesday will be determined by the weater forecast for South America, any additonneal buying due to re-allocation or supportive export news, a floor trader said.

 

On daily technical charts, electronically traded March reached its highest level since Nov. 26, but could not move above the recent high, creating a triple top, an analyst said. March settled above its major moving averages.

 

In options trading, Rand bought 1,500 February US$4.20 calls and sold 1,500 February US$4.00 calls and sold 300 March US$4.00 puts.

 

Oat futures settled sharply lower as fund and technical selling pressured prices, an analyst said. The funds continue to liquidate oat positions and technically the market fell below its 100-day moving average, encouraging additional selling, the analyst said.

 

March oats fell 7 1/2 cents to US$2.75 1/2 per bushel.

 

Ethanol futures settled mixed. December ethanol ended unchanged at US$1.95 per gallon and January slipped .001 cent to US$1.83.