After the Bell | May 26, 2023
Corn: July corn futures rose 13 1/4 cents, ending the week 49 1/2 cents higher at $6.04. December futures finished the day 18 1/2 cents higher, rising 35 3/4 cents on the week to $5.34 1/2. Corn futures finished the week strong, pushing above strong technical resistance ahead of the holiday weekend.
Soybeans: July soybeans rose 13 1/4 cents to $13.37 1/4 and gained 30 cents for the week, while July meal rose $5.00 to $402.20 but lost $6.90 week-over-week. July soyoil closed 30 points higher at 48.82 cents and gained 155 points on the week. Soybeans were able to grab gains on the day, but continue to consolidate in a sideways pattern, with the range carved on May 19.
Wheat: July SRW wheat futures rose 11 3/4 cents to $6.16 and nearer the session high. For the week, July SRW rose 11 cents. July HRW wheat gained 1 1/4 cents to $8.19 1/4 and nearer the session low. For the week, July HRW lost 5 cents. July spring wheat rose 12 1/2 cents to $8.18, gaining 14 cents on the week. The wheat futures markets Friday saw short covering and some perceived bargain hunting, led by SRW as the historically wide price spread between HRW and SRW futures has narrowed.
Cotton: July cotton surged 323 points to 83.35 cents but still lost 337 points on the week. July cotton made a solid correction to the upside today after losing all of last week’s gains earlier in the week.
Cattle: June live cattle hit another contract high at $168.40 Friday before ending the day just 5 cents higher at $167.35 on the close. That represented a weekly gain of $1.625. August feeder future suffered a late drop, falling 77.5 cents and settling at $233.925, which marked a $1.175 weekly slide. The cattle/beef situation remains quite friendly for bulls. That’s best exemplified by this week’s cash trading, with the Monday-Thursday average for fed steers jumping to $177.93, up $3.40 from the week-prior level.
Hogs: June lean hog futures fell $1.575 to $76.075, hit another contract low and for the week dropped $6.95. Today’s technically bearish weekly low close in June lean hogs sets the stage for follow-through technical selling pressure early next week.
