After the Bell | April 12, 2024
Corn: May corn futures surged 6 3/4 cents to $4.35 1/2, gaining 1 1/2 cents on the week. Corn futures negated all Thursday’s losses, finishing the week relatively flat from a week ago.
Soybeans: May soybeans rallied 14 3/4 cents to $11.74 but marked a weekly loss of 11 cents, while May soymeal surged $8.80 to $344.40, picking up $11.30 on the week. May soyoil fell 13 points to 45.89 cents and lost 300 points week-over-week. Soybeans gained back a portion of this week’s losses during Friday’s session but continued to face technical hurdles looming overhead.
Wheat: May SRW futures rallied 4 1/4 cents to $5.56, though lost 11 1/4 cents on the week. May HRW futures jumped 6 1/2 cents to $5.89 3/4, marking a 7 1/2 cent gain on the week. May HRS futures rose 5 3/4 cents to $6.42 3/4 but lost 5 1/4 cents on the week. Wheat futures piggybacked corn today posting modest gains, with strength accelerating into the close.
Cotton: May cotton fell 75 points to 82.62 cents and marked a 363-point weekly loss. Cotton futures extended losses for the fourth straight session to a three-month low as notable selling across equities, along with U.S. dollar strength, largely negated support from rising crude oil futures.
Cattle: Weak cash prices and slumping equity indexes seemed to sink cattle futures Friday. Nearby April fed cattle fell $1.35 to $178.90, while most-active June sank $2.425 to $171.475. That latter close marked a weekly drop of 57.5 cents. May feeder futures plunged $3.95 to $234.20, which left the contract $3.975 below last Friday’s close. The latest cattle and beef news was not particularly bearish.
Hogs: Outside markets seemed to sink hog futures Friday. The April contract expired at noon, having dipped 57.5 cents to settle at $90.875. Most-active June futures plunged $3.725 to $102.075. The closing quote marked a weekly drop of $5.825. Expect renewed downward pressure on hog futures early next week, since today’s breakdown, which followed a similar dive on Wednesday, has given bears considerable downward momentum to work with.
