Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were holding firm early on Thursday on spillover from a soya rally and on a technical bounce from Wednesday's declines, traders said. At 10:32 am CST (1632 GMT), March corn was up 1-3/4 cents or 0.88 percent at $1.98-3/4 per bushel. Other months were up 1 to 2 cents per bushel.

Goldenberg Hehmeyer bought 1,000 May and Rand Financial was a noted buyer of the May contract.

Traders said firmer CIF basis values at the US Gulf on Thursday also were supportive along with recent commercial pricing amid fresh export interest.

Copyright Reuters, 2005