Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade plunged 4 percent early on Tuesday amid a rebound in the US dollar and a private forecast for a record large 13.445 billion-bushel US corn crop, traders said. At 11:27 am CDT (1627 GMT), CBOT corn was down 10 to 16-3/4 cents per bushel, with December down 16-1/4 at $3.52.
USDA late on Monday said 31 percent of the US corn crop had been harvested, in line with trade expectations and above the five-year average of 20 percent. Technical support in the December contract at $3.57-1/2 per bushel was broken, briefly driving the contract down the 20 cents per bushel trading limit to a session low of $3.48-3/4, just below the 50-day moving average of $3.50-1/4.
Selling waned at that level and the market began recovering. Resistance was at $3.73-1/2. The nine-day relative strength index was at 40. Oat futures were down 5-1/2 to 8-3/4 cents per bushel, with December down 8-3/4 at $2.80-1/4 per bushel.