US corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed modestly lower on Friday in choppy trade ahead of a monthly US government report next week that is expected to show a larger corn crop, traders said. CBOT December corn settled 2-1/2 cents lower at $3.75-1/2 per bushel, but stayed inside of Thursday's trading range. Back months through 2010 ended down 1-3/4 to 3 cents.
Commodity funds sold 2,000 contracts, traders said. Active spread trade noted on first day of the five-day period when index funds roll December positions forward; Deutsche Bank a noted spreader of December 2009/December 2008. Volume was moderate at an estimated 214,009 futures and 22,663 options.
USDA scheduled to release its November supply/demand report on Monday; average trade estimate for US corn production was 12.075 billion bushels, up from USDA's current forecast of 12.033 billion. Bigger crop forecast seen spilling over to a larger corn ending stocks projection at 1.190 billion bushels, up from USDA's current outlook for 1.088 billion. Linn Group sees 2008 US corn crop at 11.909 billion bushels, down from its October figure of 12.063 billion. Snow, rain to slow tail end of US corn harvest.
Cash basis bids for corn were firm in the US Midwest late Friday as farmers remained reluctant sellers; storms slow harvest progress. CBOT December ends below all key moving averages after rising above the 20-day MA earlier this week; nine-day RSI ends at 36, nearing oversold technical range of 0 to 30.