CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended higher on Wednesday, with the front two contracts at times rising above the $5 threshold for the first time since 2014 on technical buying and worries about dry weather hurting Argentine crops, traders said.

CBOT March corn settled up 3-1/4 cents at $4.95 a bushel after reaching $5.02-3/4, the highest price on a continuous chart of the most-active contract since May 2014. Most corn futures months set life-of-contract highs. The CME Group, parent of the CBOT, said it would raise the margins to trade its soybean, corn and wheat futures after Wednesday's close.