Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rose on Friday on technical buying and fund-driven short-covering along with broad-based strength in commodities that lifted the bellwether March contract to three-week high, traders said. CBOT March corn settled up 3 cents at $3.58-3/4 per bushel after reaching $3.59-1/2, its highest since November 9. For the week, the contract rose 3-3/4 cents or 1.1 percent, its first weekly rise in the last five weeks.
The spot December contract, which is in delivery ended up 3 cents Friday at $3.44-3/4. The US Department of Agriculture said private exporters sold 130,000 tonnes of US corn to unknown destinations for delivery in the 2017/18 marketing year begun September 1. Rallies capped by plentiful domestic and global supplies and continued heavy deliveries against the nearby December contract. The CME Group reported 1,286 deliveries against December corn futures.