Corn futures advance 1% as dollar slides

Corn futures rose nearly one percent in American trade as the dollar index plumbed September 20 lows, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest corn producer and exporter. 

As of 09:34 GMT, corn futures due on March 15 rose 0.71% to $3.5325 from the opening of $3.5075, while the dollar index shed 0.40% to 91.87 from the opening of 92.24, marking a four-month trough. 

The final US manufacturing PMI marked the fastest expanding rate since March, up to 55.1 from 53.9 in November, while beating expectations of 55.0. 

The US Department of Agriculture's latest monthly report cut inventory forecasts for the marketing year ending August 31 to 2,437 million bushels from 2,487 million in November forecasts, while analysts expected 2,478 million.