US corn futures rallied 3 percent on Wednesday amid soaring crude oil, a strong rally in soya and a plunging dollar, traders said. "Funds are buying today. Anytime you see crude oil up like this you can expect fund buying in grains, too," a trader said. "Their trading basket may be 50 or 60 percent crude oil but the basket also includes grain."
At 10:07 am CST (1607 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade corn was up 6 to the 20-cent-per-bushel trading limit, with March up 17-1/2 cents at $5.61-1/4 per bushel. Traders said the fund buying was the key catalyst for the rally in corn and the huge gains in the soya complex, led by soyaoil, also gave corn a big lift. There was news China was extending a reduced import tax for soyabeans, a move that was bullish for the soya complex on Wednesday. Oat futures were up 7-1/4 to 10 cents per bushel, with May up 10 at $4.36-3/4 per bushel.