Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were slightly lower on Thursday as weakness in soybeans and wheat spilled over to the corn pit, traders said. But corn prices were keeping within a narrow range. Ongoing pressure from a huge US corn harvest was met by bullish sentiment from a large US weekly export sales tally.
Corn futures were down 1/4 cent to 1 cent per bushel by 11:25 am CST (1725 GMT). December was 1 cent lower at $1.98, hovering just above support at $1.97, the contract low.
Soybeans and wheat were 1 to 3 cents per bushel lower, with soybean under pressure from disappointing exports last week. Wheat continued to see technical selling.
Cargill Inc and Refco were featured early sellers of December, traders said.
The US Agriculture Department said US corn export sales last week totalled 1,503,800 tonnes. That was above trade estimates for 1 million to 1.3 million tonnes.