CBOT corn ends lower on favorable rains ahead of weekend heat wave

CHICAGO, June 20 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures fell for the third time in four sessions on Friday and touched a 6-1/2 month low as mostly favourable crop weather in the Midwest farm belt supported crop prospects.

• CBOT July corn CN25 settled down 4-3/4 cents at $4.28-3/4 per bushel after hitting the lowest point for a most-active contract Cv1 since December 5. The contract was down 3.5% from a week ago in the steepest weekly break in six weeks.

• CBOT new-crop December corn CZ25 ended down 2-3/4 cents at $4.41-1/4 a bushel.

• Rains across the Midwest boosted soil moisture this week ahead of above-normal temperatures expected this weekend and periods of additional rain over the next two weeks, forecasters said. This weekend's heat may stress some corn crops, although damage to yield potential is likely to be minimal as the Midwest crop has not yet entered its sensitive pollination stage.

• Drought eased in corn areas over the past week, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data. As of June 17, 17% of U.S. corn was under moderate drought or worse, down from 18% a week earlier and 22% a month ago.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture said net old-crop U.S. corn export sales in the week ended June 12 totaled 903,800 metric tons, while new-crop sales reached 155,000 tons. Both were in line with trade expectations and total sales were up 39% from a 6-1/2 month low the prior week. EXP/CORN

• The USDA on Friday said U.S. exporters sold 124,000 metric tons of corn to undisclosed buyers for shipment in the 2025/26 marketing year.

• Corn yields in some parts of Argentina are surpassing initial expectations for the 2024/25 crop, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said on Thursday, though it maintained its overall harvest forecast at 49 million metric tons as excessive moisture slowed fieldwork.