Corn Results | Wheat, Soybeans Pressuring Prices

Corn results today are wheat and soybeans pressuring the prices down, along with a stronger U.S. dollar.

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures succumbed to outside pressure Tuesday, ending lower amid falling wheat and soybean markets, traders said.

March corn ended down 7 1/2 cents to $3.83 1/2 per bushel, May corn ended down 7 cents to $3.94 3/4 and July corn ended down 7 cents to $4.05 1/2.

The market had been higher for much of the day despite lower wheat and soybeans, but corn sank as those markets extended their losses.

"Wheat and beans are slam-dunking corn," said Vic Lespinasse, analyst for grainanalyst.com.

Weak crude oil and a stronger dollar weighed on corn and other commodities, analysts said.

The market climbed in early trading on technical strength and follow-through from Friday's sharp gains, said Shawn McCambridge, senior grains analyst for Prudential Bache. But McCambridge and other analysts said the market does not have a good reason to rally sharply.

"I think we're going to have to have some kind of a fundamental backing in order to continue to extend these gains," McCambridge said.

The demand outlook remains weak, with exports, ethanol and feed demand all suffering.

Traders noted a continued unwinding of the corn-soybean spread due to concerns that corn is losing acres to soybeans. Those concerns flared again with Informa Economics acreage projection released on Friday, a trader said. Some analysts said concerns about corn losing acreage are overblown, however.

Corn climbed above $4 in the March contract overnight and again early Tuesday, but retreated each time.

A trader called $4 "massive resistance," although McCambridge called it "a psychological benchmark we continue to watch."

South American weather remains a key focus of both corn and soybeans, and continued dry weather in Argentina is fueling concerns about crop damage. But support from the continuing dry weather there was mitigated by beneficial rains in Brazil, traders said.

CBOT oats futures ended lower. March oats were down 8 1/2 cents to $2.14 per bushel and May oats were down 8 1/2 cents to $2.23 1/4.

Ethanol futures were unchanged to slightly lower. February ethanol ended flat at $1.612 per gallon and March ethanol ended down $0.013 to $1.617.

-By Ian Berry, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-341-5778; ian.berry@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-20-09 1527ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Conclusion:

Results for corn will continue to push downward in conjunction with wheat and soybeans. Oil prices didn't help, also falling, neither did the U.S. dollar getting stronger today help.