After the Bell | September 22, 2023
Corn: December corn futures rose 2 cents to $4.77 1/4 and nearer the daily high. For the week, December corn rose a penny. December corn futures prices this week hit a two-year low and the market feels heavy.
Soybeans: November soybeans rose 2 1/2 cents to $12.96 1/4, but lost 44 cents on the week, while December soymeal fell $2.30 to $385.80 and ended the week down $6.30. December soyoil rose 122 points to 59.62 cents but gave up 244 points on the week. Corrective gains in soyoil futures lent soybean futures mild support in today’s session, while meal weakness limited gains along with persisting U.S. dollar strength.
Wheat: December SRW wheat futures rose 3 3/4 cents to $5.79 1/2 and nearer the session high. For the week, December SRW fell 24 3/4 cents. December HRW wheat futures gained 3/4 cent at $7.11 1/4, nearer the session low and hit a two-year low today. For the week, December HRW lost 35 1/4 cents. Spring wheat futures advanced 3.0 cents to $7.70 1/2. That represented a weekly loss of 18 1/2 cents. The winter wheat futures markets today saw tepid short covering in bear markets.
Cotton: December cotton fell 51 points to 85.96 cents and is down 53 points on the week. Cotton futures pressed lower for the third straight session to end the week, amid U.S. dollar strength and concerns of wavering demand from China.
Cattle: Cattle and feeder futures rebounded sharply from Thursday’s commodity sector sell-off. Nearby October live cattle jumped $2.10 to an all-time high close at $187.075. That marked a weekly gain of 15 cents from last Friday’s previous record. October feeder futures surged $1.375 to close at $259.15. That represented a weekly loss of $5.325. The cash have shown signs of sustained strength through the first four days of the week, with the five-area average for Monday-Thursday reaching $184.54, up 28 cents from last week.
Hogs: Hog futures suffered another sizeable drop Friday, with the midrange close at $81.525 reflecting daily and weekly losses of $1.425 and $1.60, respectively. Hog futures proved unable to rebound from Thursday’s sector-wide commodity selloff, with cash and wholesale slippage providing little encouragement to market bulls.
