Markets Firmer Thursday

It was the second day in a row corn managed to close firmer, with gains of a fraction to a penny. The Dollar Index was lower and we saw good export sales that were supportive. Export sales were announced by the USDA at 43.3 million bushels, which was above trade expectations. We are still behind last year's pace by about 21 percent. May corn did get down to the contract low and held. It appeared that the funds that are very short were trying to get to the contract lows to hit some sell stops. Maybe there were not many there and then we saw a recovery.

Beans closed 2-3 cents higher Thursday. Export sales are slowing down as the South American crop hits the world market, but we still had a pretty good number at 16.2 million bushels. There was likely a bit of short covering going on but the current fundamental picture is bleak with the South American harvest moving along. There is no shortage of beans available to the world.