CBOT corn ends nearly unchanged as traders await USDA crop data

Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures finished nearly unchanged on Thursday while traders waited for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue key data on U.S. grain harvests and stocks next week.

• Analysts on average expect the USDA on Monday will trim its estimates for U.S. corn production and yields from November, according to a Reuters poll.

• The average trade estimate for corn stocks as of December 1 was 12.962 billion bushels, another Reuters poll showed. That would be up 7.3% from a year earlier and represent the largest December 1 corn stocks figure in USDA records dating to 1926.

• The USDA reported that 2025-26 U.S. corn export sales were 377,600 metric tons in the week that ended on January 1. Analysts expected 700,000 to 1.5 million metric tons.

• In exporter Argentina, dry weather since last month has damaged 2025-26 corn crops in western Buenos Aires province, though significant rain was forecast in coming days, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said.

• CBOT March corn CH26 finished 3/4 cent lower at $4.46 per bushel after rising earlier to the highest level since December 29.