Corn, soybean prices jump on early stock rally

Corn and soybean prices shot up Monday after an early rally on Wall Street lured investors back into the commodities complex. Wheat also rose.

Corn for December delivery jumped 12.5 cents to settle at $3.8525 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, while January soybeans added 30.5 cents to settle at $8.975 a bushel.

December wheat added 13.25 cents to settle at $5.295 a bushel.

The rallies in grains came after Wall Street traded higher earlier in the day, encouraging investors to put some of their money back into commodities markets. The Dow later ended the day down more than 200 points after a late-session drop.

However, Vic Lespinasse of Grainanalyst.com noted that trading volume in agriculture pits was light, "making it easier to move the market."

In energy markets, oil prices waffled most of the day before ending slightly lower, mirroring the stock market's inability to hold onto its gains.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 93 cents to settle $63.22 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping to its lowest point since May 2007.

At its low of $61.30, crude was down 58.4 percent from its record of $147.27 on July 11.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures ended basically flat at $1.4769 a gallon, while heating oil futures fell 3.18 cents to settle at $1.9383 a gallon.

In precious metals, gold prices jumped as the continued volatility on Wall Street fed buying of safe-haven assets.

Gold for December delivery rose $12.60 to settle at $742.90 an ounce on the Nymex.

Other precious metals traded mixed.

December silver fell 10 cents to settle at $9.195 an ounce, while December added 11.85 cents to settle at $1.8050.