Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Thursday following a drop in crude oil and spreading was featured, traders said. "On corn, everybody is liquidating corn/wheat spreads. It's kind of a correction day," said Charlie Sernatinger, analyst for Fortis Clearing Americas.
CBoT corn closed 5-1/2 to 8-1/2 cents per bushel lower, with December down 8-1/4 at $3.74-3/4 per bushel. Traders said 80,000 December/March spreads traded on the electronic screens and funds sold 4,000 lots.
Traders and analysts have said that the final harvest of a record large corn crop in the United States continued to act as an anchor on the market. But continued brisk demand was keeping away aggressive selling ideas and providing some buoyancy to corn futures prices.
Seasonal harvest pressure is becoming less of a factor for the corn market because this year's US harvest is virtually complete. The US Department of Agriculture said early this week that as of Sunday, 94 percent of the crop had been harvested, above the five-year average of 89 percent and up from 86 percent the previous week. No major weather disruptions were expected for the final harvest of US Midwest crops, DTN Meteorlogix weather said on Thursday.
The past year's high global prices for corn have led to increased production of the crop in the United States and elsewhere. French analyst Strategie Grains lifted its estimate of the European Union's 2007 maize (corn) harvest by 1 million tonnes to 46.7 million, but it was still 12 percent, or 6.3 million tonnes, down from last year.
Technical traders were watching the December contract trade above all key moving averages and key support was at the 200-day moving average of $3.73-3/4 per bushel. The nine-day relative strength index was at 55. Traders view an RSI of 70 or more as one indicator of an overbought market and 30 or less as an indicator of an oversold market. Oat futures closed unchanged to 3 cents per bushel lower, with December down 2 at $2.84-1/2 per bushel.
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