The Sideways Trade in Grains Continues
Grain markets remain mostly rangebound. These are the levels to watch for a potential trend change.
Corn
Thursday’s Recap
Corn futures were mixed Thursday with the May contract finishing the session at a one week high of 469’0, up 7’0, or 1.52%. Across all maturities, the session saw 466,449 contracts change hands, with May volume coming in at 219,751. Combined open interest decreased 1,982, or 0.11%, to 1,806,652. May fell 4,713 (0.71%), finishing at 658,749.
Technicals
May corn futures were able to gain some ground in yesterday’s trade, putting prices within arm’s reach of first resistance in the last day of the week. That resistance pocket comes in from 472 3/4-473 1/2. If the Bulls can chew through this pocket we could see it open the door for an extension into the mid 480’s. Whether or not that can/will happen prior to the end of month report is still TBD. Our bias has been and remains mostly neutral as we see shorter term opportunities on both sides of the market. A violation of support or resistance would move our bias in that direction.
Technical Levels of Importance
Resistance: 472 3/4-473 1/2***, 480-484***, 486 1/2-488 1/2****
Pivot: 462 1/2-465 1/2
Support: 454 1/2-457 3/4***, 442 1/2*
Popular Options
Option volumes were largest for the May 500 call (9,983) and the April 465 put (5,519). Calls with the largest open interest are the July 500 strike (35,169), and for the puts are the July 450 strike (19,637).
Volatility Update
Corn implied volatility finished slightly lower as CVL fell by 0.12 to end the day at 25.81, a one week low. The 30-day historical volatility closed up by 0.48% to 23.54%. The CVL Skew ended sharply up, higher by 0.69 to close the day at a one week high of 1.63.
Seasonal Tendencies Update
(Updated on 3.17.25)
Below is a look at historical price averages for May corn futures on a 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 year time frames (Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results).
Commitment of Traders Update
Friday’s Commitment of Traders report showed Funds were net sellers of about 70k futures contracts, shrinking their net long position to 132,412
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