US MIDDAY: Corn gains

Chicago corn futures prices gained traction on Tuesday as energy prices firmed, a bit of relief from seven days of consecutive losses that saw prices plunge to 3-1/2 year lows.
May corn futures climbed nearly 2% in mid-day trading, as crude oil prices rallied too on supply cut hopes, and signs of progress against the coronavirus in both Europe and the United States wooed investors back into the market.
Meanwhile, soyabean futures inched up on reports of dryness in Argentina trimming soyabean yields, but were capped by a lagging soyameal market.
Wheat futures dropped after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assessed the US crop to be in better condition than analysts forecasted.
Grain markets also saw some short-covering ahead of Thursday's World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, according to Don Roose, president of US Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa.
"For every seller, we have a buyer and vice versa," Roose said. "But the reality is, we have too much grain in the US now, and we have a crop coming at us that's going into the ground without much trouble, so far. You can't put lipstick on that pig. So how are we going to deal with it?"
Concerns over reduced demand for the grain-based fuel ethanol in the economic fallout from the novel coronavirus crisis kept corn from a stronger rally.
"The fact that the crude oil market has stabilized and has started to move higher is a supportive feature for the corn. It really takes some of that fund-selling pressure away from the market," said Brian Hoops, senior market analyst at Midwest Marketing Solutions.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active corn contract rose 5-1/2 cents to $3.33-1/4 a bushel at 10:45 a.m. (1545 GMT), after hitting its lowest since September 2016 at $3.25-1/2 a bushel on Monday.
Soybeans gained 2-3/4 cents to $8.58-1/4 a bushel. Wheat fell 6-1/2 cents to $5.49-1/4 a bushel.
In its first weekly crop rating report for 2020, USDA said Monday that 62% of US winter wheat crops were in good-to-excellent condition, up from 60% this time last year.
Analysts expected only 56% of winter wheat to be good-to-excellent.
A potential cold snap in the US next week kept wheat from sinking lower.
"There's always that threat that we could have some sort of killing frost or something," said Hoops. "That's why we're not down harder off these crop condition ratings."