DTN Early Word Grains 02/21 05:40

DTN Early Word Grains 02/21 05:40 Corn, Soybeans Little Changed, Wheat Firmer Early Friday March corn is up 1/2 cent per bushel, March soybeans are up 1/4 cent, May KC wheat is up 3 1/2 cents, March Chicago wheat is up 4 1/4 cents and May Minneapolis wheat is up 1 3/4 cents. Dana Mantini Senior Market Analyst EARLY MORNING GLOBEX NET CHANGES: March corn is up 1/2 cent per bushel, March soybeans are up 1/4 cent, May KC wheat is up 3 1/2 cents, March Chicago wheat is up 4 1/4 cents and May Minneapolis wheat is up 1 3/4 cents. CME GLOBEX RECAP: Corn, soy and wheat markets were little changed overnight with corn and soy weaker and wheat mostly a bit firmer in very quiet trade. Thursday featured another March corn run to and above the $5.00 level and once again failed to hold that level. December corn is on the fourth straight day of challenging the $4.80 level. There and above that promises to provide some solid resistance to corn. There is more and more chatter about a potential sharp increase in U.S. corn area to be seeded. Demand for corn remains solid but not so much on soybeans as South American values capture much of the interest. OUTSIDE MARKETS: Previous closes Thursday showed the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 450.94 at 44,176.65 and the S&P 500 down 26.63 at 6,117.52. The 10-Year Treasury yield ended at 4.5%. Early Friday, the March Dow Jones Futures are up 52 points. European markets are mixed/higher/lower with the spot futures of London's FTSE 100 trading up 0.2%, spot futures of Germany's DAX is trading up 0.16% and the spot futures of France's CAC 40 Index up 0.62%. Asian markets are mixed/higher/lower with Japan's Nikkei 225 Index up 0.26% and China's Shanghai Composite Index up 0.85%.