Corn, wheat markets finish higher monday

Corn and soybean futures finished higher as investors provided the support by selling out of some of their short positions.

The December corn futures finished 6¾¢ higher at $3.51. March futures finished 6¾¢ higher at $3.65.

November soybean futures settled 2¢ higher at $9.80. January soybean futures closed 2¢ higher at $9.80.

December wheat futures closed 10¾¢ higher at $4.36¾.

December soy meal futures closed $1.20 per short ton lower at $315.90. December soy oil futures closed 0.47¢ higher at 34.63¢ per pound.

In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil market is $0.16 higher, the U.S. dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 4 points lower.

About 28% of the U.S. corn crop was harvested as of last week, well behind the five-year average pace of 47%, the Department of Agriculture said. Soybeans were 49% harvested, behind the average of 60% for this time of year.

The USDA will update crop progress in a report this afternoon. While a large portion of the Midwest was dry last week, rainfall during the weekend again slowed collection of crops.

Still, yields have been reportedly strong in several states including Iowa, the biggest producer of both corn and soybeans. That’s kept a lid on prices and, going forward, analysts don’t expect much of an extension either way out of the current range.

Money managers extended bearish bets on corn while pushing net-long positions in soybeans last week.

“We are in the middle of harvest and there is no incentive for funds to cover shorts leaving the market vulnerable to more selling,” said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, the president of Summit Commodity Brokerage in Des Moines. “Selling has been working for those playing the short side of the market, and there is not much in the news to prompt them to either cover shorts or quit selling.”

Source : Agriculture