CBOT Corn Midday: Holding Firm In Relatively Quiet Action

　　CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were moderately higher at midday Monday, managing to bounce back after Friday's stumble to new contract lows in quiet trade.

　　At 11:29 a.m. CDT (1629 GMT), September corn was 1 1/2 cents higher at $2.05 1/4, and December corn was 2 1/4 cents higher at $2.20 a bushel.

　　The market managed to stage a modest bounce from last week's lows, recovering on technical buying follow Friday's declines that left futures oversold, analysts said. The December corn contract's nine-day relative strength index at Friday's close was 27.50. A RSI reading below 30.00 is considered oversold.

　　Spillover support from firm soybean futures prices added to the market's upside strength. However, analysts said the gains were just a function of overdone losses, with speculative funds still net short position holders in the market.

　　The funds took a breather from their recent selling spree, allowing the market to catch its breath, with futures looking for a better picture of yield and production potential as the market gears up for the fall harvest, said a CBOT commission house broker.

　　Meanwhile, Hurricane Katrina is seen mildly bearish to prices, as it negatively impacts export movement with ports at the Louisiana Gulf temporarily closed due to the storm. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture office of transportation, 70% of all U.S. grain and oilseed exports are shipped out of the Port of New Orleans.

　　The Meteorlogix weather forecast said Hurricane Katrina promises to bring heavy rain and strong winds to the Deep South and extend the area of locally heavy rain westotnithe Mississippi Delta during the next two days.

　　Crop areas east of the Delta, in closer proximity to the track of Katrina, will have heavier rain, possibly as much as 15 inches in the immediate Gulf Coast. In addition, strong winds from the hurricane and subsequent tropical-storm winds also pose a threat to all crops in the region, Meteorlogix added.

　　The USDA on Monday released its weekly export inspections report for the week ended Aug. 25. U.S. corn inspected for export was 39.676 million bushels, up from last week's 29.067 million bushels, and above analysts' estimates that ranged from 27 million to 36 million bushels.

　　After the close, at 3 p.m. CDT (2000 GMT), the USDA is scheduled to release its weekly crop progress report.

　　In other news, Argentine farmers had planted 0.4% of the 2005-06 corn crop by Saturday, according to the latest data from the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange.

　　In CBOT early pit trades, Rand Financial bought 800 December, Prudential Financial bought 500 December, Citigroup bought 300 December, and Cargill Investor Services, Goldenberg Hehmeyer, and Refco each bought of 200 December.

　　On the sell side, ABN Amro sold 400 December, Tenco sold 300 December, and Man Financial and Cargill each sold 500 December.