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CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended firm
Wednesday, finishing at session highs as well as a new high for the week on
speculative and local buying amid spillover momentum from a late surge of
soybean futures.
CBOT March corn finished 3 1/4 cents higher at $2.22, and May ended 3 1/4
cents higher at $2.32 1/4 per bushel.
The influence of the soybean market was a directive force in the market, with
that market's ability to stage a reversal from double-digit losses to nearly
seven-cent gains at one point sent bullish wave filtering across the trading
floor, said a CBOT commission house broker.
Corn hovered within narrow trading ranges for most of the day, struggling to
find direction amid the absence of fresh fundamental news. Futures initially
came under pressure from a lack of fund-related buying that underpinned prices
previously coupled with abundant free stocks that are keeping upside momentum
in check, traders said.
Otherwise, the liquidation of March positions ahead of first notice day and
spread rolling were featured attractions. This continued, until the market
managed to push firmlyotnipositive territory on borrowed momentum from
soybean futures' ability to bounce back from earlier lows. Speculative-led
buying served as the catalyst for the recovery in otherwise subdued price
action.
Meanwhile, the DTN Meteorlogix forecast said mainly dry weather with hot
temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit will extend through the middle of next week
in Argentina. Argentina is already hot, with temperatures on Tuesday reaching
100 degrees Fahrenheit in the southern sector of Buenos Aires province. This
entire region will see increasing crop stress due to the dry and very warm to
hot pattern through the middle of next week.
On tap for Thursday, U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release
its weekly export sales report for the week ended Feb. 9. Analysts surveyed by
Dow Jones anticipate commitments in a range of 1,000,000 to 1,200,000 metric
tons.
In pit trades, Citigroup, Goldenberg Hehmeyer, Man Financial and Tenco were
featured buyers, with JP Morgan, Man Financial, Tenco and ABN Amro key sellers.
Ethanol futures ended lower, with the March future settling 7 cents lower at
$2.58 per gallon.
Oat futures ended higher across the board, bouncing from earlier lows in
unison with the rest of the grain complex at CBOT. CBOT March oat futures
settled 3 cents higher at $1.92 and May oats ended 3 1/4 cents higher at $1.91
3/4 per bushel.
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