Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended modestly higher on Thursday on technical buying and spillover support from soybeans, traders said. CBOT December corn settled up 1/2 cent at $3.67-1/2 per bushel, just above the contract's 100-day moving average.
The US Energy Information Administration said weekly US output of corn-based ethanol rose to 1.02 million barrels per day, while stocks of the biofuel fell to 23.90 million barrels. Ahead of the USDA's export sales report, which is delayed until Friday due to Monday's federal holiday, traders expect the government to report export sales of US corn in the latest week at 500,000 to 900,000 tonnes.