CHICAGO: US corn futures inched higher on Thursday, stabilizing from three-month lows set a day earlier, supported by worries that cool weather could slow the maturity of the delayed US crop, analysts said.

Wheat rose on technical buying and better-than-expected weekly US export sales. But soyabean futures declined, retreating from early strength on what appeared to be technical selling, analysts said.

At 12:30 p.m. CDT (1730 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade December corn was up 3/4 cent at $3.71 per bushel. December wheat was up 5-1/4 cents at $4.73-1/4 a bushel while November soyabeans were down 5 cents at $8.68 a bushel.

Corn futures had bullish technical momentum after the December contract rallied from a three-month low to settle higher on Wednesday.

Also, temperatures in the Midwest are forecast as cooler than normal into September, a potential drag on production at a time when late-planted corn and soyabean crops need warmth and sunshine. CBOT corn drew support from news that President Donald Trump planned to meet with Cabinet members on Thursday to discuss ways to boost demand for biofuels including corn-based ethanol.

Trump’s move was seen as “initiating damage control by looking into ways to soothe irate producers over his recent decision to grant unnecessary small refinery exemptions for the second year in a row, which has negatively impacted ethanol producers and all US corn and soyabean producers,” Dan Cekander, president of DC Analysis, wrote in a client note.

CBOT corn and soyabeans firmed in early moves after the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop tour late Wednesday projected below-average crop prospects in Illinois, the top US soyabean state and the No. 2 corn producer.—Reuters