Wheat, corn and soybeans lost some early steam in a thinly traded, post-holiday session Friday, ending lower on the day but posting gains for a shortened trading week. Attention was on geopolitical developments, including a planned meeting Sunday between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The Trump-Zelinskiy talks…stirred the prospect of progress toward ending Russia’s war on Ukraine. Strikes and counterstrikes between the foes in the Black Sea region had helped build a geopolitical risk premium back into the wheat market. Oil futures fell, with WTI down $1.62, as traders contemplated the prospect that peace talks could put added Russian barrels on a market already struggling with a crude glut.
The U.S. launched a military strike in Nigeria…against Islamic State targets in a security and intelligence collaboration with the African nation’s government. President Trump said he directed American forces to carry out “a powerful and deadly strike” against ISIS, and Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry confirmed the “precision hits on terrorist targets,” Bloomberg reported.
China slaps sanctions on U.S. defense companies…Beijing hit 20 companies and 10 of their executives Friday, retaliating for the Trump administration’s approval of the sale of a large package of weapons to Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported. China said it would freeze the assets of the companies, ban them from Chinese transactions and prohibit the executives from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The move is seen as largely symbolic since the contractors do little business in China, the report noted.
Corn: March corn futures fell a penny to $4.50 after ending at a six-week high on Wednesday. The contract gained 6 ¼ cents on the week, and has been boosted by a strong export pace. Renewed weakness in oil futures, tied partly to renewed optimism over Russia-Ukraine peace efforts, may have put some modest pressure on corn Friday.
Soybeans: March soybeans fell 4 cents to $10.72 ½, for a weekly gain of 13 cents. Meal and oil futures were also weaker. Soybeans bounced this week, after feeling pressure from favorable South American weather.
Wheat: March SRW fell 2 ¾ cents to $5.19, breaking a five-session winning streak but logging a weekly gain of 9 ¼ cents. March HRW gave up a ½ cent to $5.33 ½, leaving a weekly gain of 18 cents. March spring wheat fell 1 cent to $5,7925, a gain of 1.25 cents on the week. Winter wheat bulls were in the driver’s seat for grains this week, bouncing back after feeling pressure from hefty global supplies. The rebuilding of a geopolitical risk premium, as well as concerns over a hot spell that could leave winter wheat in the Plains vulnerable to a return of cold weather have helped fuel gains.
Cotton: March cotton rose 25 points to 64.49 cents after gapping higher on the daily price chart, booking a weekly gain of 24 points. Signs of life in export sales, favorable seasonals and recent weakness in the U.S. dollar have helped give cotton a lift.
Cattle: February live cattle rose $1.10 to $229.65, leaving it down $1.15 for the week. January feeder cattle rose $1.625 to $340.425, gaining $1.025 on the week. The live and feeder cattle futures saw consolidation amid light, holiday-thinned cash and futures activity after both markets hit two-month highs Monday.
Hogs: February lean-hog futures lost 52.5 cents to close at $84.525, a gain of 2.5 cents on the week, after hitting a two-month high on Tuesday. Hogs pulled back after Tuesday afternoon’s quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report from USDA showed an unexpected expansion of the herd.