Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended lower on Monday as traders adjusted positions prior to the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture acreage and stocks report a day later.

  • CBOT's July corn contract (CN26) ended the day down 10-3/4 cents at $4.02 a bushel, having hit a contract low at $3.98-1/2 a bushel.

  • Traders were adjusting positions ahead of the USDA acreage and stocks reports on June 30.

  • USDA is expected to report June 1 corn stocks were up 16.5% from a year earlier and that farmers planted about 95 million acres of corn this spring, a Reuters poll of analysts showed.

  • A hot spell in the U.S. Midwest was expected to peak by midweek, according to Commodity Weather Group, with showers and lower temperatures around the corner limiting crop stress.

  • The USDA is likely to leave its U.S. corn crop condition ratings unchanged from last week in a weekly report, with 68% of corn expected in good-to-excellent condition, a Reuters poll of 11 analysts showed on Monday.