Corn rises for first time in four sessions, dollar extends gains

Corn futures rose over one percent in American trade off July 25 lows, while the dollar index hit June 27, 2017 highs, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest corn producer and exporter.  

As of 07:56 GMT, corn December futures rose 1.62% to $3.7650, while the dollar index climbed 0.33% to 96.71, marking nearly 14-month highs. 

USDA Reports Inspections, Inventory Estimates 

The US Department of Agriculture reported inspections of 1.26 million tonnes of corn product destined for exports in the week ending August 9, compared to 1.29 million tonnes in the previous week, and up from 761.3 thousand tonnes in the same period of 2017. 

Total inspections have now reached 54 million tonnes for the market year starting last September, compared to 54.5 tonnes in the same period of 2017. 

Also in its monthly report, the USDA raised corn harvest forecasts to 14.586 billion bushels from 12.23 billion bushels in the July report, while raising expectations for corn inventories to 1.684 million bushels from 1.636 million. 

Other US data showed import prices unchanged in July, compared to a 0.1% m/m dip in June, and missing estimates of a 0.1% increase, while prices excluding petroleum slipped 0.1%, compared to a 0.4% decline in June. 

On a yearly basis, prices rose 4.8% last month, up from 4.7% in June, and beating estimates of 4.5%.