DTN Early Word Grains 02/16 05:56

DTN Early Word Grains 02/16 05:56 Grains Start Lower, But Keep Trending Higher March corn was down 1 cent, March soybeans were down 4 3/4 cents, and March Chicago wheat was down 1/4 cent. By Todd Hultman DTN Analyst 6:00 a.m. CME Globex: March corn was down 1 cent, March soybeans were down 4 3/4 cents, and March Chicago wheat was down 1/4 cent. CME Globex Recap: Much like Wednesday, corn, soybeans and wheat were quietly lower overnight, but this time are waiting for USDA's weekly report of export sales, due out at 7:30 a.m. CST. The U.S. dollar index is down 0.32 with other commodities steady to higher. OUTSIDE MARKETS: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 107.45 points at 20,611.86. The NASDAQ Composite was up 36.87 points at 5,819.44 and the S&P 500 was up 11.67 points at 2,349.25 Wednesday. DJIA futures were down 29 points early Thursday morning. Asian markets were mixed with Japan's Nikkei down 90.45 points (-0.5%), Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 112.83 points (0.5%), and China's Shanghai Composite up 16.63 points (+0.5%). European markets were lower Thursday with London's FTSE 100 down 34.25 points (-0.5%), Germany's DAX down 21.35 points (-0.2%), and France's CAC 40 down 22.07 points (-0.5%). The U.S. dollar index was down 0.32 at 100.77 while the euro was up 0.00405 at 1.06405. March 30-year T-Bonds were up 15/32nds at 150'13 while April gold was up $5.10 at $1,238.20. March crude oil was up $0.03 at $53.14 while Brent crude was up $0.04 at $55.79. Soybeans at the Dalian Exchange are steady overnight and Malaysian palm oil futures were down 1.4%.