Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were mildly weaker by Friday's midsession on a technical setback from Thursday's rally to a two-month high, traders said. Easing concerns about a high-pressure weather ridge moving into the South-western United States in the 11-to-15-day period also weighed on prices.
July corn was down 1 cent per bushel at $3.89-1/14 by 11:35 am CDT (1635 GMT). The back months were down 2-3/4 cents to up 1 cent. A rally in soybeans and soymeal helped bring corn off its early lows, traders said. There were bearish moves stemming from the corn options pit as J.P. Morgan sold 2,500 July $4.40 call options and 1,000 December $4.50 calls. On a supportive note, export sales were bigger than expected and US cash basis bids remained firm due to a lack of farmer movement, traders said.
The US Agriculture Department reported last week's export sales reached 1,365,600 tonnes (676,000 tonnes old crop), above trade estimates for 850,000 to 1,100,000 tonnes. CBOT oats were steady to up 5-3/4 cents per bushel, with July up 5-3/4 at $2.86-3/4.