CBOT corn ends higher on choppy trading day
CHICAGO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended higher on a choppy day of trading on Thursday, as investors spent much of the session continuing to process the news of a surprising government stocks report, traders said.
On Wednesday, corn futures plunged after the US Department of Agriculture reported that corn stocks reached a seven-year high of 2.095 billion bushels for September 1, up from 1.551 billion a year ago and above trade expectations, according to analysts surveyed in a Reuters poll.
CBOT December corn settled up 1-1/2 cents at $5.02-1/4 a bushel.
Earlier in the session, the most-active CBOT corn contract dipped to $4.95 a bushel, the lowest price since August 19.
But by late in the session, a spate of bargain buying sent corn futures higher for the first time in four sessions.
The USDA reported net export sales of US corn in the week ended September 24 at 536,000 metric tons, near the low end of trade expectations for 500,000 to 1,300,000 tons.
Rains continued to slow harvesting in the US Corn Belt, though forecasts have called for drier weather after Friday.
But the wet weather and spell of hot temperatures in August may have caused some crop damage in parts of Indiana and Illinois, market analysts said.