Corn, wheat advance
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
NEW YORK, April 20 (Bloomberg): Corn and wheat rose in Chicago on speculation that yesterday's slumps were exaggerated. Soybeans also climbed.
Corn for July delivery gained 1.3 percent to the day's high of $3.6175 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 11:37 a.m. Paris time. Wheat for July delivery advanced 1.4 percent to $4.86 a bushel.
Corn fell 4.5 percent yesterday and wheat slid 4.6 percent, the most since Jan. 12 for both grains. Prices dropped on concern that a US government lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for alleged fraud will curb investment demand for riskier assets, including commodities. Goldman Sachs has called the lawsuit "unfounded."
"It's bargain-hunting after a sharp decline," Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Central Shoji Co., said of today's advance.
The US corn crop was 19 percent planted as of April 18, up from 3 percent a week earlier, the US Department of Agriculture said in a report yesterday after the close of trading.
"The slump in grain values reflected the trade's focus returning to fundamentals," said Toby Hassall, a commodity analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. "US corn planting is proceeding at a cracking pace, and Midwest weather forecasts suggest favorable early-season conditions will continue."
Corn for July delivery gained 1.3 percent to the day's high of $3.6175 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 11:37 a.m. Paris time. Wheat for July delivery advanced 1.4 percent to $4.86 a bushel.
Corn fell 4.5 percent yesterday and wheat slid 4.6 percent, the most since Jan. 12 for both grains. Prices dropped on concern that a US government lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for alleged fraud will curb investment demand for riskier assets, including commodities. Goldman Sachs has called the lawsuit "unfounded."
"It's bargain-hunting after a sharp decline," Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Central Shoji Co., said of today's advance.
The US corn crop was 19 percent planted as of April 18, up from 3 percent a week earlier, the US Department of Agriculture said in a report yesterday after the close of trading.
"The slump in grain values reflected the trade's focus returning to fundamentals," said Toby Hassall, a commodity analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. "US corn planting is proceeding at a cracking pace, and Midwest weather forecasts suggest favorable early-season conditions will continue."