Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell on Friday on follow-through selling and long liquidation after Thursday's poor technical close, traders said. CBOT March corn settled down 5-1/4 cents at $3.68-1/4 per bushel after dipping to a one-week low at $3.68. The contract held above chart support at its 200-day moving average of $3.67. For the week, the contract fell 6-1/4 cents per bushel or 1.7 percent.
Market seen as vulnerable to long liquidation following a big jump in open interest in CBOT corn futures this week as the market rallied a likely indication of funds establishing new long positions.
Background pressure from fears that Mexico, a top US corn buyer might source more corn from South America due to political tensions with the Trump administration.
The USDA said private exporters sold 194,112 tonnes of US corn to Japan, including 60,000 tonnes for 2016-17 delivery and 134,112 tonnes for 2017-18 delivery.