Corn: Corn futures settled 3 1/2 to 5 cents higher today, which was high-range. Corn futures were supported today by spillover from the soybean and wheat markets. Weather was also supportive, as forecasts call for stressful conditions to continue across the far western and northwestern areas of the Corn Belt. But buying was limited as the southern and eastern Belt are expected to see rains and temps aren’t anticipated to be as hot as previous forecasts indicated.
Soybeans: Soybean futures finished 11 1/2 to 14 cents higher through the March contract. That was in the upper end of today’s range, but slightly off session highs. Soybean futures sharply extended the strong gains from the two previous days as traders continued to factor in the friendly acreage and stocks data from last Friday as well as forecasts calling for crop stress to continue across western and northwestern areas of the Corn Belt.
Wheat: HRW wheat futures rose a dime through the May 2018 contract. SRW and spring wheat futures finished mostly 4 to 6 cents higher. Futures ended near midrange for the day. Fundamental analysis: Spring wheat futures gapped higher and surged to new contract and multi-year highs on the weekly continuation chart amid ongoing crop concerns in the Northern Plains. While forecasts call for some rains across the region this week, overall conditions are expected to remain hot and dry.
Cotton: Cotton futures settled 17 to 24 points higher today. While those are modest gains, futures ended high-range. Cotton futures faced pressure for much of the day, but staged a late corrective rebound, driven in part by strength in the grain markets. The U.S. dollar trimmed its earlier gains this afternoon, but that came after cotton stopped trading. Price action Thursday will be driven by USDA’s weekly crop condition ratings, which were delayed until this afternoon by yesterday’s holiday. After a sharp drop in ratings the previous week, traders will likely respond by covering short positions if there’s another decline.
Cattle: Live cattle futures faced pressure throughout the day and the market ended low-range and down $1.62 1/2 to $2.20. Traders are concerned that the passage of the major beef holidays means boxed beef demand will slide going forward, which would also weigh on the cash cattle market.
Hogs: Lean hog futures settled 17 1/2 cents to $1.35 higher through the December contract. The soon-to-expire July contract led today’s price gains. July lean hog futures moved to a premium to the lean hog index today despite weakness in the cash hog market. The average national direct cash hog bid dropped $1.26 this morning, with the decline pressured by losses in the Iowa/southern Minnesota market.
