Bloomberg

Corn climbed for the first time in five days as investors judged a decline to a three-week low excessive. Soybeans gained for the first day in three.

December-delivery corn rose as much as 0.5 percent to $3.7875 a bushel in Chicago and traded at $3.7875 at 1:56 p.m. in Tokyo. The most-active contract touched $3.7575 on July 26, the lowest level since July 1, on speculation rain will improve crop yields in the U.S., the biggest producer and exporter.

“It’s only a technical correction,” said Han Sung Min, a futures broker at Seoul-based Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. Current favorable crop weather in the U.S. may limit future price gains, he said.

About 72 percent of the corn crop was rated good or excellent as of July 25, while 67 percent of soybeans got the top ratings, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said July 26. The ratings were unchanged from a week earlier.

Corn prices will average about 9 percent more in the first three months of 2011 than they have since July 1 because smaller crops in Europe, Russia and Ukraine will boost demand for U.S. exports to Asia, Rabobank Group said in a report this week.

The price will average $4.25 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade in the three months ending March 31, 2011, said Luke Chandler, Rabobank’s executive director of agricultural market research. Corn also may rise because U.S. supplies are cheaper for importers in China, Chandler said.