Corn ends lower

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed mostly lower Monday, pressured by the weakness in the wheat markets and some updated forecasts that looked a little wetter for the dry eastern Corn Belt, traders said. But there wasn't anything really definitive that drove prices, and trade was quieter than it's been in days, traders added.
July corn found the most pressure, closing 3 cents lower at $4.16 per bushel as index-commodity funds rolled their July longs into September and December, traders said. The deferred months through July 2009 settled 3-1/2 cents lower to 3/4 cent up after several made contract highs overnight on weather jitters.
CBOT wheat futures were mostly lower, with the front two months closing 3-1/4 to 5-1/2 cents weaker on profit taking after hitting an 11-year high last week.
The wheat/corn spread was correcting a little on Monday, after last week's historical wheat premium to corn of over $2 a bushel when wheat hit an 11-year top amid concerns about a shrinking global wheat supply.
Selling in corn was scattered among commission houses with commodity funds selling 3,000-4,000 contracts. Index funds were spreading December-July and September-July and moves stemming from the options pit were bearish, with firms buying puts and selling calls. An estimated 225,929 futures and 83,770 options traded, compared to the 279,949 futures and 110,278 options that traded on Friday.
The eastern Midwest was dry over the weekend, a pattern seen all month, and little rain was forecast for the week. The dryness in the eastern belt triggered the USDA late Monday to cut its rating of the US corn crop by 7 points, with 70 percent of the crop rated good to excellent in its weekly report. That was a bigger decline than traders expected, with most anticipating a 2-to-4 point drop in the good to excellent categories.
The rating drop was viewed price supportive for the overnight e-session but traders said they would be focusing on updated weather forecasts that will be released tonight. Weekly export inspections came in within expectations, giving the market little direction. USDA said 37.260 million bushels of corn were inspected for export last week, versus estimates for 32 million to 38 million.