Corn Futures Surge to 10-Year High on Fund Buying, Weather Concerns

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures rallied to 10-year highs early today on fund buying, weather jitters and corn/soy spreading, traders said.

Traders said a private weather forecaster on Wednesday was hinting at the potential for a hotter and drier summer in the U.S. Midwest crop region.

March corn on the CBOT rose as much as 13 cents to $4.28 1/4 a bushel.

"There's been fund buying in the corn. The market was able to rally into an area where it hit a lot of technical buy stops. It pulled beans along with it," said Mario Balletto, analyst with Citigroup.

Commodity funds bought at least 6,000 corn contracts by midsession, traders said. Fund buying included ADM, Fortis, FIMAT and UBS Warburg, traders said.