After posting double-digit gains on the heels of a bullish USDA acreage report Thursday, corn futures gave back a portion of those advances on Monday, after the Easter holiday weekend. Wheat and soybeans ended with losses as well.
Heavy global supplies and a higher American dollar weighed on corn, as did forecasts calling for warmer- and wetter-than-normal conditions for the American Midwest – just what the doctor ordered ahead of the planting season. This afternoon’s USDA’s crop progress report showed national corn planting at 2% complete, on par with the five-year average. May corn fell 6 ½ cents to $4.35 ½, and December was down 3 cents at $4.74 ¾.
Soybeans were undermined by basically the same factors that dragged corn lower. May dropped 5 ¾ cents to $11.85 ¾, and November was down 3 ¾ cents at $11.82 ½.
The higher dollar was a bearish factor for wheat. May Chicago closed down 3 ¼ cents at $5.57, May Kansas City dropped 9 ¾ cents to $5.75 ½, and May Minneapolis stumbled 10 ¼ cents to $6.34 ¾.
