CHICAGO: Technical buying helped Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures on Thursday, as funds continued to adjust their positions and fundamental news about grain supplies and export demand remained limited, traders said.
* CBOT March corn ended the day up 1-1/4 cents at $3.74-1/2 per bushel.
* The small bounce came one day after corn futures reached the lowest price since Nov. 29 amid fund profit-taking and reports of favorable weather for Brazil's first crop corn harvest.
* But the ongoing uncertainty over when China could return to the US market - and the dearth of export sales news from the US Department of Agriculture this week - kept a cap on the price bounce on Thursday.
* Daily export sales reporting by USDA has halted during the partial shutdown of the federal government.
* USDA's weekly export sales report, which had been scheduled for release on Friday, also has been postponed indefinitely due to the shutdown.
* Some traders say they are keeping a close eye on possible concerns of dryness in central Brazil, as well as forecasts of heavy rains in eastern Argentina that could result in corn and soybean replanting delays.
* China and the United States have made plans for face-to-face consultations over trade in January, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, as the world's two biggest economies advanced efforts to resolve a months-long trade war.
* "We continue to see fund positioning, which is dominating today's trade, and will again tomorrow and Monday," said Karl Setzer, operations manager for Citizens LLC, a grain elevator company.
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