Corn Futures Rise After Week of Losses

Corn and spring wheat futures crept higher on lingering concerns about the condition of those crops, while soybeans steadied.

Despite a positive turn in U.S. weather forecasts, problem areas remain for crops. The Commodity Weather Group said Friday morning that portions of Midwestern corn and soybean growing areas would be on the dry side through mid-August, despite beneficial cooler temperatures. Meanwhile, drought conditions in the northern Plains and parts of Canada continue to damage spring wheat.

Prices for grain and oilseed have mostly fallen this week as a result of the improvement in weather, however. Analysts said the losses created some buying interest ahead of the weekend, during which weather forecasts can change further.

"With soybeans being near unchanged, corn has been able to find a little bit of strength," said Ted Seifried, chief market strategist at Zaner Group in Chicago. Soybeans were treading water after a dramatic week of losses, he said.

Traders were also looking ahead to updated government supply-and-demand figures next week, Mr. Seifried said.

Higher crude oil prices also supported grain and soybean contracts, analysts said.

Corn futures for September delivery rose 0.8% to $3.66 1/2 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. September spring wheat climbed 0.4% to $7.16 1/4 a bushel at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

CBOT August soybean futures closed 0.1% lower to $9.49 1/4 a bushel while CBOT soft-red winter wheat dropped 0.7% to $4.54 3/4 a bushel.

Write to Benjamin Parkin at benjamin.parkin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 04, 2017 16:03 ET (20:03 GMT)