Corn futures skid 4% in American trade

Corn futures slumped over four percent to below $4 as the dollar index gained ground today, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest corn producer and exporter, and after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen presented the first half of her Congressional testimony ahead of the House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee. 

As of 07:30 GMT, corn futures due on September 15 tumbled 4.04% to $3.8559 from the opening of $4.0175, while the dollar index rose 0.07% to 95.74 from the opening of 95.67. 

Corn futures hit one-month lows after the US Department of Agriculture upgraded its forecasts for harvest in the agricultural year of 2017-2018 in its monthly report today to 14.1 billion bushels, which is up 190 million bushels from the previous forecast. 

Otherwise from the US, Yellen mentioned the continued strength of the labor market, as the economy grew moderately, while inflation calmed in recent months, which nudged the Federal Open Market Committee to monitor more closely the actual and projected progress towards the 2% target for prices, while asserting that rate hikes on federal money will come gradually later. 

Yellen expects gradual tightening on monetary policy to allow for moderate economic expansion in the next two years, as the labor sector improves and inflation reaches 2%. 

Yellen evaluated short-term risks as roughly balanced, asserting the FOMC will continued monitoring growth and keep the policy accommodative to afford further support to jobs and inflation.