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CBOT corn ends slightly lower, pulled down by soy

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed slightly lower as pressure from lower soybean futures was countered by support from ideas the western Corn Belt remains short of soil moisture with spring planting a month away, traders said.

"We are a month away from planting. Subsoil moisture remains very low in many areas of the western Corn Belt," said Jay Calhoun, a spokesman for the brokerage firm LFG LLC. "The Corn Belt needs rain and that is what we are going to trade."

Corn moved lower late in the session largely in reaction to the sharp break in soybean futures. Fund selling increased the losses in soybeans at about 12:00 p.m. CST, and corn and wheat followed soybeans down. However, late local buying restricted the declines in corn.

"Corn was more resilient than the rest of the floor," said Calhoun, referring to the moderate drops in wheat and soybean futures.

Key corn supply and demand estimates in USDA's crop reports released early Friday were unchanged from previous reports, which was neutral for futures. USDA left its 1999/2000 US crop estimate at 9.437 billion bushels, exports at 1.950 billion and ending stocks at 1.739 billion.

CBOT corn closed down 1/4 to 1-1/4 cents with May off 1/2 at $2.26-3/4 cents per bushel and new-crop November off 1/2 at $2.48-1/2 per bushel.-Reuters