Chicago Board of Trade corn futures jumped 2.1 percent on Thursday on forecasts for hot weather in the US Midwest that could threaten yields during the crop's key pollination phase of development. The benchmark CBOT December corn contract found support from overnight weakness at its 30-day moving average.
Corn futures have risen for three straight sessions and four of the last five, gaining 5.6 percent during that stretch. The US Agriculture Department said weekly corn export sales were 678,600 tonnes (old-crop and new-crop combined). Analysts' forecasts ranged from 350,000 tonnes to 750,000 tonnes.