CBOT corn ends up on short-covering recovery

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed higher Thursday on a short-covering recovery bounce from oversold technical conditions.

* Equities gained, the dollar weakened and crude oil gained after Germany approved a stronger euro zone bailout fund on Thursday.

* USDA said 812,900 tonnes of corn were sold for export last week, within estimates for 750,000 to 950,000 tonnes. The sales included 182,100 tonnes to China.

* Drier weather will move into the eastern US Midwest by the weekend and continued dryness in the western Midwest will boost corn and soybean harvesting, an agricultural meteorologist said Thursday.

* Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, intends to double the amount of corn in subsidized bread because wheat is more expensive, Social Solidarity Minister Gouda Abdel Khaleq said.

* China, the world's second-largest corn consumer, said it will focus on raising domestic corn production to meet fast-rising demand and is testing use of genetically modified organism (GMO) technology to boost output, a senior government official said.

* December contract below all key moving averages with first key resistance at the 200-day MA of $6.43.

Copyright Reuters, 2011