DTN Early Word Grains 12/28 05:32

DTN Early Word Grains 12/28 05:32 Crop Prices Quiet Early Thursday as Year's End Draws Near March corn was down 1 cent, March soybeans were down 2 cents and March KC wheat was up 1 cent. Todd Hultman DTN Lead Analyst Friday's GLOBEX CLOSES: March corn was down 1 cent, March soybeans were down 2 cents and March KC wheat was up 1 cent. CME GLOBEX RECAP: Early Thursday, Dow Jones futures are trading a little lower with the underlying index on track to post a gain of nearly 14% on the year. The bulk of the gain happened in the final two months of the year as interest rate expectations turned lower. Thursday morning's reports start with weekly U.S. jobless claims and an update of the U.S. Drought Monitor at 7:30 a.m. CST, followed by pending U.S. homes sales at 9 a.m. The Energy Department's report on natural gas storage is set for 9:30 a.m., followed by the Energy Department's weekly inventory report at 10 a.m., including ethanol production. OUTSIDE MARKETS: Previous closes Wednesday showed the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 111.19 at 37,656.52 and the S&P 500 Index up 6.83 at 4,781.58. The 10-Year Treasury yield ended at 3.79%. Early Thursday, March Dow Jones futures are down 50 points. European markets are lower with the spot futures of the London FTSE 100 trading down 0.20%, spot futures of Germany's DAX trading down 0.17% and spot futures of France's CAC Index trading down 0.16%. Asian markets are mixed with Japan's Nikkei 225 index down 0.42% and China's Shanghai Composite Index up 1.38%.