DTN Early Word Grains 12/14 05:59

DTN Early Word Grains 12/14 05:59 Big Week Ahead for Markets March corn was fractionally higher, January soybeans were fractionally lower, and March Chicago wheat was 1 cent higher. By Darin Newsom DTN Senior Analyst 6:00 a.m. CME Globex: March corn was fractionally higher, January soybeans were fractionally lower, and March Chicago wheat was 1 cent higher. CME Globex Recap: Grains were mostly higher early Monday as a big week for markets gets under way. Traders will likely play it close to the vest ahead of Wednesday's expected announcement from the Federal Reserve of an interest rate increase. Outside commodities were lower again with gold down $9.00 while crude oil threatens to go below $35.00. The U.S. dollar index is rallying early Monday. OUTSIDE MARKETS: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 309.54 points lower Friday at 17,265.21. The NASDAQ Composite was down 111.770 points at 4,933.47. DJIA futures were 67 points higher overnight. Asian markets were mostly lower with the Nikkei down 347.06 points at 18,883.42 while China's Shanghai Composite was up 86.09 points (2.51%). European markets were higher. The U.S. dollar index was up 0.210 at 97.841. Crude oil was $0.51 lower at $35.11 while Brent crude was $0.62 lower at $37.31. February gold was $8.70 lower at $1,067.00. Dalian soybean futures and Malaysian palm oil futures were both lower.