Shares of fertilizer companies were sharply higher Monday, as a spike higher in prices for corn, which is used to develop fertilizer, helped fuel and support the gains. CF Industries Holdings Inc.’s stock shot up 7.1% toward a three-month high, enough to make it the biggest percentage gainer in the S&P 500 index. Fellow fertilizer maker Mosaic Co.’s shares were the second biggest S&P 500 gainer, as they ran up 6.5% to a two-month high. Helping fuel the gains, corn futures soared over 2% to settle above $4.00 a bushel for the first time since June 2016, amid concerns over supply in the face of a drought and rising temperatures in the Great Plains region. Rising prices for corn and fertilizer could help fertilizer companies’ result. Among other fertilizer companies, shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. climbed 6.8%, also boosted by reports of an upgrade at Scotiabank, and Agrium Inc. hiked up 7.1%. Meanwhile, CF Industries’s stock was still down 4.8% year to date, while Mosaic shares had tumbled 18%, the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF had closed 9.9% and the S&P 500 had advanced 8.5%.
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