Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended lower on Thursday on bearish exports and financial concerns that included a drop overnight in Asian stock markets and a volatile day in the US stock market, traders said.
"Today is a moment of truth for the bulls. Export sales for corn weren't good, and the Asian stock market is a factor as well," said James Barnett, analyst for Man Global Research.
CBOT corn closed 3 to 8 cents per bushel lower, with March down 8 at $4.17-1/4 per bushel. Fund selling ranged from 18,000 to 20,000 lots and active commercial buying was noted with Tenco and J.P. Morgan buying the March, May and December contracts.
Fund selling led the way down, with some market bulls unnerved by this week's sharp plunge in outside markets, such as Asian stocks, led by a steep slide on Tuesday in China's main stock market and another drop in that market on Thursday.
"It was a little shaky after China markets fell and I think that spilled over into our grain markets. There was a lack of buying interest with funds selling a large amount of wheat, corn and beans," said Terry Reilly, analyst for Citigroup.
Weekly export sales data lent pressure to the corn futures market. The US Agriculture Department reported that 356,700 tonnes of corn were sold for export last week, below estimates for 600,000 to 800,000 tonnes. "There were dismal export sales for corn and the soy products, meal and oil," Reilly said.
But prices were expected to stay volatile as the market begins to focus on possible delayed US corn seedings due to wet weather, a supportive factor. Good demand for corn from the ethanol sector also remains supportive.
USDA said on Thursday the US corn crop would reach a record 12.2 billion bushels, assuming normal weather and yields. The government pegged US corn acreage at 87.0 million, up from its projection last month for 86.0 million.
US corn use for ethanol will remain strong, with 3.2 billion bushels targeted for the renewable fuel for the 2007/08 crop year, up from 2.15 billion bushels in the 2006/07 crop year.
March corn has been trading above all key moving averages and the contract early in the session broke below its 20-day moving average of $4.11, touching off a flurry of sell stops. By the close, March had scrambled above the 20-day. Oat futures closed 3 to 9-3/4 cents per bushel lower, with March down 7-1/2 at $2.45-1/2.