After hitting record high, corn prices edge down
After hitting record high, drought-stricken corn prices edge lower
The price of corn edged down slightly on Tuesday, an aberration after climbing higher throughout the summer.
Corn prices have soared since late June as a brutal drought has dried out fields across much of the country, particularly big corn producers like Indiana and Illinois.
On Monday, corn for September delivery hit a record of $8.20 per bushel.
Tuesday, corn for December delivery, the most active contract, fell 8.75 cents, to $8.0525 per bushel.
As of this week, 48 percent of the U.S. corn crop is in "poor" or "very poor" condition, according to a research note Tuesday by Stifel Nicolaus analysts led by Meyer Shields. Last year at this time, only 14 percent of the crop was in one of the two lowest conditions.
Many analysts fear that even a good rain wouldn't salvage the corn crop at this point in the season.
"With 94 percent of the corn crop already at or past the pollination phase, future rains this summer probably won't have much positive impact on final yields," Shields wrote to clients.
There is a little more hope for soybeans, which are planted later in the season. Shields said that rain "within the next week or so" could still boost soybean crops.
November soybeans fell slightly, losing 2.5 cents to $16.41 per bushel. September wheat fell nearly 3 percent, losing 26.25 cents to $8.8825 per bushel.
On the U.S. stock market, indexes closed slightly lower as investors waited for details on whether the Federal Reserve planned to pump more money into the economy. That also pushed down most energy prices, which are tied to how investors feel about the economy.
Benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.72 to end the day at $88.06 per barrel in New York. Brent crude lost $1.28 to finish at $104.92 per barrel in London.
Gasoline lost 4.41 cents to end at $2.7743 per gallon, heating oil lost 3.74 cents to finish at $2.8417 per gallon, and natural gas fell less than a penny to finish at $3.2090 per 1,000 cubic feet.
No key metals made significant moves.
Gold for December delivery fell $9.40 to $1,614.60 per ounce. September palladium rose $2.20 to $590.55 per ounce, and October platinum rose $5.10 to $1,416.90 per ounce.
September silver fell 11.9 cents to $27.914 per ounce.
September copper was virtually flat, edging up 0.15 cent to $3.4175 per pound.
