Thursday marked the last trading day of the month and first quarter, which coincides with one of the more highly anticipated USDA reports of the year; quarterly stocks and prospective plantings.
The USDA estimates that there will be 90.036 million acres of corn planted in the U.S. this year, that was well below the average analyst estimate of 91.776 million and down sharply from last year’s 94.641 million. Quarterly stocks were reported at 8.347 billion bushels, this was slightly below the average estimate of 8.427 billion, but still well above last year’s 7.396.
With the two headline numbers for corn coming in below expectations, the market responded with a sharply higher trade with the July contract settling 15 ¼ cents higher. As you can see from the chart, corn futures spent much of March attempting to carve out a low and the recent USDA report may aid in that effort. The Bulls still have their work cut out for them though, they will want to see consecutive above our first resistance pocket from 456 ¾-460 ¾. If they can achieve that, we could see additional momentum push prices up near our next resistance pocket from 471-475, which happens to currently coincide with the 100-day moving average.
That momentum could come from new buyers, but also short covering from Funds who are still holding a hefty net short position, to the tune of 245,463 futures and options contracts. From a seasonal standpoint, there’s the potential for uncertainty around weather and its impact on production that could also help prices firm.
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