CBOT corn futures notch 6-month high, following soy, wheat strength

CHICAGO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures hit a six-month high on Thursday on spillover strength from wheat and soybeans in thin holiday trade and on expectations of tightening U.S. corn supplies, traders said.

• CBOT March corn CH25 settled up 5-1/4 cents, or 1.2%, at $4.53-3/4 per bushel after rising to $4.54-1/4, the highest level on a continuous chart of the most-active corn futures contract CV1 since June 26.

• Some analysts expect that the U.S. Department of Agriculture may further trim its forecast of U.S. corn inventories in its next monthly supply/demand report on Jan. 10, following a sizable cut in its Dec. 10 report.

• Additional support stemmed from worries about dry weather for the next two weeks in crop areas of Argentina.

• Ahead of the USDA's weekly export sales report, delayed until Friday due to Wednesday's Christmas holiday, traders expect the government to report U.S. corn sales in the week ended Dec. 19 at 1.0 million to 1.6 million metric tons.

• The U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory data on crude oil and ethanol is also delayed until Friday.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Mark Porter)

((Julie.ingwersen@thomsonreuters.com; 1-313-484-5283; Reuters Messaging: julie.ingwersen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))