Positive Signs for Crops Send Corn Prices Lower

Positive signs for the corn and wheat crops sent futures prices for those grains lower Tuesday.

Soybean futures also lost ground.

Better weather conditions in the U.S., including much-needed rainfall to parched growing regions, drove down prices. Traders also sold grains and beans contracts on signs that farmers were making better-than-expected progress planting their corn and soybean crops. That suggests larger supplies than had been anticipated.

“We’ve got very good weather conditions, especially for corn and soybeans,” said Todd Hultman, a grains and beans analyst for DTN in Omaha, Nebraska.

Corn for July delivery fell eight cents, or 1.7 percent, to close at $4.70 a bushel. Wheat fell 12 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $6.41 a bushel. Soybeans lost 27 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $14.89 a bushel.

In metals trading, the July contract for gold fell $26.20, or 2 percent, to $1,265.50 an ounce. Silver for July delivery lost 35 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $19.07 an ounce.

July platinum fell $10.50, or 0.7 percent, to $1,462.30 an ounce, and June palladium fell 80 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $830.65 an ounce.

July copper edged up a penny to $3.18 a pound.

This article appeared in print in the May 28th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.