Corn futures slide even as dollar dips

Corn futures fell in American trade even as dollar index inched down for the first time in four sessions, following an array of data from the US, the world's largest corn producer and exporter. 

As of 08:38 GMT, corn futures due on December 15 declined 0.50% to $3.5100 from the opening of $3.5275, while the dollar index dipped 0.06% to 93.71 from the opening of 93.77. 

Earlier US data showed durable goods orders accelerated to 2.2% in September from 2.0% in August, besting expectations of 1.0%, while core orders accelerated as well to 0.7% from 0.5%. 

The House Price Index accelerated in August to 0.7% from 0.4% in July, while new home sales surged 18.9% in September to 667 thousand, compared to a 3.6% drop in August to 561 thousand, while analysts expected a 1.1% dip to 555K. 

Otherwise, the US Department of Agriculture's report on grain harvest this week showed that just 28% of the corn output have been harvested so far this marketing year, much below the five-year average of 47%, as the harvesting process slows down due to rains in the American Midwest. 

The USDA's report on corn sales for the week ending October 19 showed exporters sold 1.25 million metric tonnes to foreign buyers, down 2.1% from the previous week, while up 58% from the four-week average, besting expectations of between 0.7 and 1.4 million tonnes. 

Mexico came at the top of the list with a 510.1 thousand purchase, then Japan at 233.8 thousand, and Honduras at 132.2 thousand, then Peru and Colombia at 117.2K and 98.1K respectively. 

The USDA's October report on global agriculture demand and supply raised expectations for productivity per donam by 1.9 bushels to 171.8 bushels per donam, compared to expectations of 169.8 bushels, with the USDA now forecasting total production for the year ending next August at 2,340 million bushels, up from 2,335 million in September forecasts, while analysts expected 2,251 million.