Chicago Board of Trade corn futures were higher early on Thursday, supported by strong weekly export data, traders said. The market was also due for a technical bounce, approaching oversold conditions after falling to a three-week low on Wednesday. The May contract slipped below its 50-day moving average of $2.28-1/4 and closed at $2.28.
This week's sell-off was driven by commodity funds, who sold about 20,000 corn contracts, traders said. Also supportive was a firmer gold market after Wednesday's fall.
March corn was up 2 cents at $2.21 per bushel and May was 2-1/4 higher at $2.30-1/4 by 10:45 am CST (1645 GMT).