CBOT corn futures rise on technical buying

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended higher Friday on short-covering and technical buying after the benchmark December contract stayed above a contract low set a day earlier, traders said. CBOT December corn settled up 2 cents at $3.43-1/2 per bushel, holding above the contract low set Thursday at $3.40-3/4. For the week, the contract ended down 4-3/4 cents per bushel or about 1.4 percent, its second straight weekly decline.
Funds hold a large net short position in CBOT corn futures, leaving the market vulnerable to bouts of short-covering. Traders continued to digest Thursday's US Department of Agriculture supply/demand reports in which the government raised its estimate of the US corn yield to a record-high 175.4 bushels per acre.