Corn prices drop nearly one percent as stocks rise in U.S. agriculture ministry's report

Corn futures fell nearly one percent in American trade, shrugging off the dollar's fall, which follows a spate of data from the U.S., the world's largest corn producer and exporter, including the release of the December yield report from the U.S. agriculture ministry.
 
As of 08:09 GMT, corn futures due on March 16 fell 0.77% to $354.50 a bushel from the opening price of $357.25, with an intraday low at $353.00, and a high at $360.00, while the dollar index shed 0.57% to 101.20 from the opening of 101.77.
 
Earlier U.S. data showed uanemployment clams up to 247 thousand in the week ending January 7 from 235K in the previous reading, besting expectations of 266K, while continuing claims for the week ending December 31 fell by 29 thousand to 2.089 million, matching expectations, and down from 2.116M in the previous reading. Also, import prices rose 0.4% in December, missing expectations of a 0.8% rise, while better than November's 0.3% dip.

On the same note, FOMC member and Philly Fed President Patrick Harker and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans talked about the economic outlook and monetary policy at the American Council of Life Insurers, in Naples, while Fed Chair Janet Yellen is due tomorrow to speak in a Washington town hall later today.
 
On another note, the U.S. agriculture ministry released its monthly report showing the area dedicated for corn yield has reached 86.7 million acres in the period ending December 2016, a 7% rise from 2015, while the yield has risen 11% y/y to 15.1 million bushels, a rise of 6.2 bushels from the average 174.6 bushel per acre of 2015. Also, corn stocks reached 12.4 million bushels inside farms, an increase of 11% from 2015, while there were 4.77 million bushels stored outside farms, an 8% increase from the previous year.