Too much rain kept corn futures prices growing Friday and new forecasts called for no change in the soggy conditions that have stalled spring planting in the Midwest. Other grain and soybean futures also advanced on the Chicago Board of Trade. On other commodity markets, cocoa futures retreated; livestock and meat futures rose; precious metals were mixed; and oil futures were mixed. Corn futures settled 1 cent to 5 cents higher in Chicago with the contract for delivery in July at $2.84 a bushel. The July contract's gains totaled 9\ cents in the three days ending Friday. Wheat futures settled { cent lower to 3 cents higher with July at $3.30 a bushel; oats were 1\ cents to 2 cents higher with July at $1.54{ a bushel; soybeans were 1 cent to 3} cents higher with July at $6.19 a bushel. Forecasts for scattered showers in the Corn Belt well into next week ``overwhelmed everything else'' in the corn market Friday, said Victor Lespinasse, an assistant vice president in the grain trading division of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. ``It's wet, it's been wet and it looks like it's going to continue to be wet,'' he said. After the close, the National Weather Service released a six-to-10-day forecast predicting wetter-than-normal conditions in the Midwest from May 31 through June 4. ``It looks like a real soggy run for the eastern Corn Belt,'' said Richard Feltes, director of commodity research with the futures brokerage Refco Inc. About 20 percent of the nation's corn crop remains to be planted, Lespinasse said. If farmers don't get the seed into the ground within the next 10 days, yield losses are likely, he said. That propect was reflected in steeper losses in the new-crop corn contracts than in the July contract, which represents the last of the old-crop corn. The pattern was reversed in the soybean market, reflecting the possibility that farmers will plant soybeans on acres they had planned to sow with corn. Cocoa futures fell sharply on New York's Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange, erasing Thursday's gains as traders took profits ahead of the long holiday weekend. Prices climbed to new 14-month highs on Thursday and surged again in early trading Friday on news of a customs workers strike in the Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer. Traders quickly discounted the importance of the strike, though, since most of the available Ivory Coast cocoa already has been shipped. Cocoa settled $25 to $30 lower with July at $1,464 per ton. Most livestock and meat futures rose moderately on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in pre-weekend position-evening after several days of weakness, especially in pork futures. After the close, the Agriculture Department released a monthly report that showed 102.2 million pounds of pork bellies in the nation's commercial freezers. The number was near market expectations. Live cattle futures settled .02 cent to .25 cent higher with June at 73.52 cents a pound; feeder cattle were .07 cent lower to .13 cent higher with August at 83.77 cents a pound; live hogs were .10 cent to .37 cent higher with June at 65.95 cents a pound; frozen pork bellies were .12 cent to .38 cent higher with July at 65.85 cents a pound. Gold futures rose modestly on New York's Commodity Exchange on light volume, supported in part by slight weakness in the dollar. The advance extended the market's recovery from Wednesday's plunge of more than $11 an ounce. Gold futures settled $1.50 to $1.90 higher with June at $368.40 a troy ounce; silver was 1.3 cents to 1.5 cents higher with May at $5.215 a troy ounce. Energy futures ended mixed on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Near-term crude oil deliveries finished slightly lower after a burst of buying early in the session that analysts linked to bullish chart signals. West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled 5 cents lower to 12 cents higher with July at $17.80 a barrel; heating oil was .15 cent to .38 cent lower with June at 49.66 cents a gallon; unleaded gasoline was .40 cent lower to .18 cent higher with June at 63.41 cents a gallon.
