December 23, 2006

 

CBOT Corn Review on Friday: Settles higher on technical buying

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended higher Friday and near session highs with the market closing early ahead of the Christmas holiday.

 

March corn settled 6 1/4 cents higher at US$3.84 per bushel and May corn rose 6 cents to 3.91 1/2. e-CBOT day session volume in March was 23,892 contracts.

 

Follow through from higher values overnight and technically related speculative buying boosted prices, sources said.

 

It was all technical-related and the late gains in wheat spilled over into the corn pit adding additional support, a floor analyst said.

 

March wheat settled up 10 3/4 cents at US$5.14 per bushel.

 

Since Dec. 18, March corn has rallied 22 cents as people covered their short positions, said Don Roose of US Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa.

 

Corn is near the top end of a big broad trading range and without any news to move it one way or the other, it's likely to remain there, he added.

 

Some people are anticipating index fund buying early next year and are establishing long positions early, a commission house analyst said.

 

On open auction technical charts, March corn settled above its major moving averages and at its highest level since Dec. 1.

 

Buyers Friday included Calyon, which bought 500 March, Man Financial, which bought 500 March, and JP Morgan, which bought 400 March.

 

Calyon sold 500 March, Citigroup sold 400 December and FC Stonnee sold 300 December.

 

Commodity fund buying was estimated at 1,000 contracts.

 

In options trading, FC Stonnee bought 500 Dec. US$4.00 calls, sold 1,000 Dec. US$4.50 calls and bought 500 Dec. US$5.00 calls.

 

Oat futures ended higher in thin trade as spillover buying from wheat and corn helped support oat futures for the second straight day, a local trader said.

 

March oats settled 1 1/4 cents higher at US$2.74 per bushel and May rose 2 cents to US$2.79 1/2.

 

Ethanol futures finished mixed in quiet trade. The January contract slipped 1.7 cents to US$2.39 per gallon. The February contract did not trade and settled 2 cents higher at US$2.295.

 

On Monday, the CBOT will be closed for Christmas.