US corn futures trimmed early losses and briefly turned higher at midday on Wednesday in tandem with the dollar trimming its day's gain after surging on safe-haven buying sparked by the European debt crisis. The US Agriculture Department slashed its forecast for the US corn and soyabean yield, with the decline in corn production larger than traders anticipated.
But the European debt crisis overshadowed the USDA crop report as investors sought safe haven in the greenback after Italian bond yields climbed to levels deemed unsustainable for the eurozone's largest government bond market. Corn futures fell as much as 2 percent early at the Chicago Board of Trade, but December futures turned around as crude oil climbed and the dollar came off its daily high.
CBOT December corn was down 2-1/2 cents per bushel as of 11:35 am CST (1735 GMT) after earlier trading as low as $6.46-3/4 and as high as $6.66. CBOT December wheat was down 1.4 percent, or 9 cents, at $6.48 in the first decline in five trading sessions. CBOT January soyabeans were down 1.1 percent, or 13-3/4 cents, at $11.91-1/4 per bushel.