US corn futures rose for a second straight day on Friday, with the benchmark contract rising above $4 a bushel to its highest in nearly five months, fuelled by short-covering and technical buying. Wheat futures extended a rally to move above the psychological $6 a bushel barrier as buying interest from investment funds outweighed signs of a large global supply and uncompetitive US export prices.
Soyabeans retreated in a profit-taking setback and on pressure from falling soyameal prices. "It's hard to come across a fundamental reason grains are higher. Corn's got technical momentum, it's got fund length behind it, and sometimes that's all you need in quiet markets," said Jim Gerlach, president of brokerage A/C Trading. Chicago Board of Trade March corn futures was up 6 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $4.04-1/2 a bushel at 11:13 am CST (1713 GMT), after earlier hitting a high of $4.07-1/4, the highest since July 10. Thursday's close above the contract's 150-day moving average of $3.98 fuelled technical support.
CBOT January soyabeans fell 3-3/4 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $10.38-1/2 a bushel, having closed up 1 percent in the previous session. Soyabeans remained on pace for a second straight weekly gain and corn a third straight gain. The US Department of Agriculture confirmed on Friday morning private sales of 110,000 tonnes of US soyabeans for shipment to unknown destinations in the 2015/16 marketing year, which begins September 1, 2015.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat futures rose 12-1/4 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $6.09-3/4 a bushel after earlier climbing as high as $6.13-1/2, the contract's highest point since July 7. The benchmark contract was up almost 5 percent in two days and was on pace for a third straight weekly gain. Reports that Russia was planning to raise the price paid for wheat under its intervention stock scheme had fuelled the upturn in prices as the market remained sensitive to any suggestion the major exporter could try and shift supply towards its domestic needs. December corn and wheat contracts expire at noon CST on Friday.
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