Corn for March delivery climbed 4.25 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $5.39 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 12:56 p.m. Paris time. The grain erased a drop as low as $5.2775, the lowest level for a most-active contract since Oct. 8.
“Grains and other commodities were reacting very sensitively to the dollar’s move,” said Han Sung Min, a broker at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. in Seoul. “The dollar’s decline stoked bargain-hunting after prices fell last week on concern over slowing Chinese demand.”
Ireland accepted an international bailout yesterday. The accord will create a capital fund for Ireland’s banks and may end up “restructuring” the financial industry, European Union finance ministers said. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, slid as much as 0.7 percent today, making U.S. crops cheaper in terms of other monies.
Soybeans for January delivery advanced 14.75 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $12.1625 a bushel. The contract had slid as low as $11.90, the lowest price for the oilseed since Oct. 20.
“The rescue plan for Ireland this weekend caused a rebound of the euro, and due to this, of the dollar-priced commodity markets,” Paris-based farm adviser Agritel said in a report on its website.
Fed Minutes
The dollar also fell before tomorrow’s release of minutes of this month’s Federal Reserve meeting, when policy makers decided to buy $600 billion in Treasury securities. A weaker dollar also fuels demand for commodities as an alternative investment.
Corn lost 2.4 percent last week as moves by China to slow its economy threatened to curb demand for imports. Soybeans slumped 5.3 percent, the most since Oct. 1. The Asian country is the biggest consumer of soybeans and the second-largest user of corn after the U.S.
China ordered its banks to set aside larger reserves for the fifth time this year, draining cash from the financial system to limit inflation.
For grains, “prices tumbled on Friday as news of the increase in the Chinese reserve requirements weighed heavily upon all markets,” economist Dennis Gartman wrote in his daily newsletter.
Wheat for March delivery rose 5 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $6.89 a bushel after dropping 3.6 percent last week. Milling wheat for January delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris slipped 0.2 percent to 211.50 euros ($290.11) a metric ton.
Rough rice for January delivery was unchanged at $13.895 per 100 pounds in Chicago after advancing as much as 1.4 percent to $14.09. The grain lost 1.2 percent last week.
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