Corn futures closed higher on Thursday on fund buying and on a rally in wheat futures. Funds bought 7,000 corn futures contracts during the session. Wet weather may continue to slow crop plantings in Illinois and Indiana with better seeding weather elsewhere. Planting delays in key areas of the U.S. Corn Belt this spring could lead to tight supplies of corn during the next year, forcing prices higher and further threatening profit margins at ethanol plants and livestock companies. The slow pace of corn planting east of the Mississippi River, including major production states such as Illinois and Indiana, could cut ending stocks by as much as 35 percent, according to one analyst.
Investment funds poured money into agricultural markets on Thursday, taking U.S. wheat to four-month highs amid a broad rally in other commodities. Gold prices hit two-month highs and silver nine-month peaks as funds also piled into precious metals to hedge against a weaker dollar.
U.S. soybean futures on the ended mixed on Thursday, with the nearby months pressured by profit-taking after this week's surge to an eight-month high above $12 a bushel, traders said.
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