By Michael Hirtzer
CHICAGO, Jan 16 (Reuters) – U.S. corn jumped 1 percent on
Friday, rebounding from a nearly two-month low on support from
short covering and increasing export demand and trimming
declines from earlier this week.
Wheat futures were also higher on bargain buying, on their
way to a fourth straight weekly decline, while soybean futures
were narrowly mixed in light volume after top importer China
cancelled a large purchase of U.S. soybeans.
The gains in agriculture commodities were part of a broad
rally with crude oil and stocks higher ahead of the
three-day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.
“It’s a corrective rally. Crude is higher. The corn basis is
firm and probably some export business being done near the
100-day moving average,” said independent trader Ken Smithmier.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier said exporters
sold 101,600 tonnes of U.S. corn to unknown destinations, in the
fourth announcement of a sale of 100,000 tonnes or more in a
week.
USDA also said China cancelled purchases of 285,000 tonnes
of U.S. soybeans.
Chicago Board of Trade March corn futures were up 5
cents at $3.85 per bushel as of 10:40 a.m. CST (1640 GMT). The
contract tested its 100-day moving average on Wednesday when
prices fell to the lowest level since November, prompting a
round of buying by importers such as Japan, South Korea and
Taiwan.
Corn still was on pace for a weekly decline of 3.7 percent.
CBOT March wheat climbed 3-1/4 cents to $5.36 but was
heading for a weekly drop of about 5 percent – the largest since
September. Prices for the grain remained anchored by poor export
demand, with U.S. wheat too expensive to compete for business in
many top global markets including Egypt.
“The downward trend on U.S. wheat has become more and more
pronounced. The correction has already taken it halfway towards
the $5 floor due to fact that U.S. wheat is not competitive,”
Alexis Poullain of French consultancy Agritel said.
Soybeans for March delivery edged 1-1/2 cents lower to
$9.89-1/2 per bushel, near the lowest level since Oct. 27 on
pressure from the China cancellation and expectations of record
production in South America.
Name Last Pct Net Pvs
Change Change Close
CORN MAR5 385 1.32 5 380
SOYBEANS MAR5 989.5 -0.15 -1.5 991
SOY MEAL MAR5 326.6 -0.03 -0.1 326.7
SOYBEAN OIL MAR5 33.18 0.58 0.19 32.99
WHEAT SRW MAR5 536 0.61 3.25 532.75
ROUGH RICE MAR5 11.35 0.18 0.02 11.33
M.WHEAT EUR MAY5 197 1.16 2.25 194.75
LIGHT CRUDE FEB5 47.58 2.88 1.33 46.25
DJ INDU AVERAGE 17378.6 0.33 57.89 17320.71
BALTIC EXCH DRY 741 -1.07 -8 749
US DOLLAR INDEX 92.922 0.62 0.57 92.352
(Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen
Thukral in Singapore; editing by William Hardy and Matthew
Lewis)