Chicago Board of Trade corn futures were range-bound by mid-morning Tuesday after a lower open on harvest pressure, with new-crop December hitting a contract low for the eighth straight session, traders said.
CBOT corn futures were up 1/2 cent to down 1/2 cent per bushel by 11:10 am CDT (1610 GMT). December was steady at $2.12-3/4 per bushel, after sliding to a low of $2.12-1/4.
The market turned higher on a short-covering bounce. Funds were early light buyers of corn, including Refco Inc. with 200 December. But there was some commercial hedge pressure with Cargill Inc. selling 200 December.
Corn is highly oversold with the nine-day relative strength index for December closing on Monday at 11, well below the benchmark 30 that chartists view as an oversold mark.