Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rose on Friday on short-covering as brokers adjusted positions ahead of weekend trade talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina. CBOT benchmark March corn settled up 4-1/2 cents at $3.77-3/4 per bushel. Front-month December corn ended up 6-1/4 cents at $3.66-1/2 a bushel, supported by smaller-than-expected deliveries on first notice day.
The CBOT reported two deliveries against the December contract, while analysts generally expected zero to 500 lots. Commodity funds hold a net short position in CBOT corn futures, leaving the market vulnerable to short-covering rallies. Open interest in CBOT corn has fallen in each of the previous five sessions as investors headed to the sidelines ahead of the weekend trade talks. For the week, March corn rose 7-1/4 cents or nearly 2 percent.