CBOT Corn Review on Monday: Down on outside markets; fundamentals support
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended a two-sided session modestly lower Monday on weakness from outside-market influences.
December corn ended 1 1/4 cents lower at US$5.62, and March finished 1 3/4 cents lower at US$5.80 1/4.
The market failed to sustain a midday bounce, succumbing to weakness from crude oil, economic jitters that sent equity market plunging and a stronger U.S. dollar, analysts said.
The fallout from Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy filing, Bank of America buying Merrill Lynch and AIG Insurance asking for monetary help from the U.S. Federal Reserve sent bearish ripples across the market place, inducing speculative long liquidation in crude and Ag markets, analysts added.
However, strong underlying fundamental support managed to offset some of the pressure, with a tighter U.S. balance sheet and worries that weekend floods will push back harvest opportunities providing strength to underpin prices, traders said.
End-user buying on price breaks served as another feature to buoy prices and promote two-sided action. Weather outlooks pointing to a drier trend with warmer temperatures in the near term added some pressure to aid the mixed tone.
Corn daily trading will revert back to their normal 30 cents Tuesday.
The DTN Meteorlogix Weather forecast said the next week to 10 days offers a much more favorable weather pattern for central U.S. row crops. Rainfall forecasts have almost no precipitation for the Corn Belt this week. This drier weather will allow some drying of fields and help crops to move along in their ripening stage. Temperatures will be somewhat cool in the Midwest, but warm with 10-degrees-above-normal Fahrenheit readings in the northern Midwest through northern Plains. Some of that warmth will spread into the Midwest by late week, Meteorlogix added.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. EDT. Analysts anticipate a steady-to-2-percentage- point decline in crop ratings. Analysts forecast U.S. corn harvesting progress at 6% complete, compared to about 12% last year and an 8% average.
CBOT oat futures closed higher. December oats rose 5 1/4 cents to US$3.39 3/4, and March oats jumped 5 1/4 cents to US$3.57 1/4.