Corn: December corn rose 2 1/4 cents to $4.63 1/4, nearer the daily low and hit a five-week high early on. The corn futures market earlier today extended Friday’s solid gains as hotter and drier weather in the Corn Belt is prompting some fund short covering and fresh speculator buying interest. However, some profit taking later in the session tempered good earlier gains. It’s a weather market, so look for higher volatility—both on the upside and downside—in the near term.
Soybeans: November soybeans rose 4 cents to $11.94 3/4, nearer the daily low and hit a seven-week high early on. September soybean meal fell $3.20 to $314.00, nearer the daily low after hitting a four-week high early on. September soybean oil rose 223 points to 72.15 cents, near the daily low and hit a four-week high. The soybean market saw fund short covering and fresh speculator buying interest today, to extend recent gains that are due in part to China purchasing U.S. soybeans and weather in the Midwest turning less price-bearish. Spreaders were featured buying bean oil and selling meal futures today.
Wheat: September SRW fell 5 cents to $6.35 1/4, near the daily low. September HRW lost 10 cents to $6.66 1/4, near the daily low. Both markets hit six-week highs early on. September spring wheat futures rose 3/4 cent to $6.53 1/4. The winter wheat futures markets saw corrective price pullbacks from recent good gains, with profit taking from the shorter-term speculators featured. USDA this morning reported weekly U.S. wheat inspections totaled 373,611 MT during the week ended July 9, up 226,787 MT from the previous week.
Cotton: December cotton futures lost 3 points to 81.51 cents, near mid-range after hitting a seven-week high early on. Cotton futures today saw some mild profit taking but losses were limited by the rally in crude oil and in the corn and soybean markets. A firmer U.S. dollar index today was also a negative for cotton futures.
Cattle: August live cattle fell $0.475 to $234.725, nearer the daily low. August feeder cattle lost $0.25 to $354.35, nearer the daily low. The live and feeder cattle futures markets today saw short covering and perceived bargain buying for most of the session, following recent losses that on Friday pushed both markets to multi-week lows.
Hogs: August lean hog futures lost $0.90 to $98.10, nearer the daily low after hitting a six-week high early on. The lean hog futures market saw some routine profit taking today but the bulls are keeping alive a price uptrend on the daily bar chart. BLT season is right around the corner and that has been supporting fresh wholesale pork prices.