CBot corn down

Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade fell over 2 percent on Monday on an improvement in crop weather in the US Midwest and on talk USDA may show a surprisingly large number for corn in its June plantings report on Friday, traders said.
CBOT corn closed down 1-1/2 to 9-3/4 cents per bushel, with July 9-3/4 cents lower at $3.57-3/4. New-crop December was down 7-1/2 at $3.74. Volume was estimated by the exchange at 297,898 corn futures and 47,712 options.
Traders and analysts said the corn market was at the mercy of weather forecasts for the key crop areas of the US Midwest. Farmers have planted the largest corn area since 1944 to meet the demand from the ethanol sector and the crop soon will be entering the critical pollination or reproductive stage of development.
Heavy rains moved through the areas of the dry eastern US Midwest this weekend, recharging top soil moisture and providing a much-needed drink to thirsty corn and soybean plants, a forecaster said Monday.
From 0.5 inch to 2.0 inches of rain, locally heavier, fell across north-western and central Illinois over the weekend. Northeast Illinois to central Indiana saw showers of 0.25 to 1.0 inch and south-west Ohio had 0.1 to 0.5 inch of rain.
"The rainfall should improve conditions for corn, particularly in Illinois. It's mixed for Indiana and Ohio with some areas improving after weekend rains but other areas missed out, especially Ohio and parts of eastern Indiana," said Joel Burgio, a forecaster with DTN Meteorlogix.
The market was beginning to position ahead of the release early Friday of USDA's June plantings and quarterly stocks reports. Traders said the USDA may show an even bigger number for US corn plantings this year than the 90.454 million acres that the government forecast in its March plantings report.
Traders said they expected USDA late on Monday to show a stable to possibly 1 percentage point decline in crop condition ratings. But the traders also said the market would overlook the crop ratings and focus instead on outlooks for crop weather over the next several weeks.
After the close, the USDA said 73 percent of the corn crop was rated in good to excellent condition, up from 70 percent the previous week. Export activity included news South Korea was expected to buy corn after US prices fell late last week, while rising freight costs are expected to keep Japanese and Taiwanese buyers on the sidelines, traders in Tokyo said on Monday.
Cash basis bids for corn in the Midwest on Monday were mostly unchanged amid scattered farmer selling who were trying to cash in grain they have been holding in storage, cash grain dealers said.
Friday's CFTC commitments of traders report for futures and options combined showed that for the week ended last Tuesday, large speculators were long 301,165 lots, up 30,521 from the previous week, and short 65,127 lots, down 2,287 lots. Index funds were long 371,317, up 1,361 lots, and short 15,681 lots, up 4,011 lots.
Chart-based traders are watching the July contract trade below all key moving averages and the nine-day relative strength index has fallen into oversold levels, ending Monday at 30.
Technical traders view an RSI of 30 or less as an oversold market and 70 or more as an overbought market. Oat futures closed 1-1/2 to 5 cents per bushel lower, with December down 4-1/2 at $2.69. Oats volume was estimated at 3,033 futures and five options.