Early Call On Chicago

22/12/11 -- The overnight grains were little changed in a dull lifeless session with beans around 2 cents firmer, corn mixed and wheat unchanged to slightly lower. Crude oil and the dollar are also barely changed.

There was some overnight rain for Argentina, with more expected today, although the amounts involved aren't huge.

Bangladesh has bought Ukraine wheat, Japan has booked some Australian wheat and Jordan has bought 100,000 MT of wheat of unspecified origin - most likely from the Black Sea.

The USDA's weekly export sales and shipments were bullish for corn and soybeans and neutral to slightly negative for wheat.

Fresh news is thin on the ground. After several days of moving higher we may be in for a small consolidation day, but big moves either way today/tomorrow look unlikely.

Chicago operates normal trading hours tomorrow, is closed Monday and re-opens again Tuesday afternoon.

Early calls for this afternoon: beans up 2-4 cents, corn up 1-3 cents, wheat mixed.