Corn falls off month highs, dollar journeys higher

Corn futures fell nearly one percent in American trade away from September 5 highs as the dollar index hit August 20 highs, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest corn producer and exporter. 

As of 07:58 GMT, corn futures due in December fell 0.75% to $3.6475 away from month highs, while the dollar index rallied 0.40% to 95.89 against a basket of major currencies. 

USDA Reports Inspections, Harvest Figures 

The US Department of Agriculture reported the harvesting of 26% of total US corn output until last Sunday, up from 16% in the previous week, and beating five-year averages of 17% for this time of year. 

The USDA also reported inspections of 1.34 million tonnes of corn product destined for exports in the week ending September 27, compared to 1.35 million in the previous week, and 853.7 thousand tonnes in the same week of 2017, with total inspected product now amounting to 4.42 million tonnes in the marketing year starting last month. 

Last month, the USDA raised forecasts for corn output to 14.827 million tonnes bushels, or 181.3 per bushel, from 14.586 million bushels, or 178.4 per bushel in the August report. 

The USDA expects corn inventories in the marketing year 2018-2019 to reach 1.684 billion bushels, up from 1.636 billion in previous forecasts. 

Otherwise, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin delivered a speech titled "The Outlook for Tomorrow: Five Numbers to Watch" at the West Virginia Economic Outlook Conference, where he pointed to strong growth rate and upbeat inflation, adding the Fed will now focus on business investment, labor compensation, and productivity gauges. 

Other US data showed private sector employment rose 230 thousand in September, adding to the 168 thousand in August, and beating estimates of 185 thousand. 

US ISM services PMI rose to 61.6 in September from 58.5, beating estimates of 58.0. 

Services PMIs are crucial as two thirds of American GDP are dependent on the services sector, with the readings covering many aspects of the economy such as retail, housing, utilities, healthcare, and finance.