GRAIN CALLS
Corn: 2 to 4 cents lower.
Soybeans: 1 cent lower to 1 cent higher.
Wheat: 6 to 8 cents lower.
GENERAL COMMENTS: The grain and soy complex saw consolidation overnight. Soybeans saw relative strength, led by strength in soyoil, seeing little trade below unchanged. Front-month crude oil futures continue to face stiff resistance at the psychological $100 level. The U.S. dollar index is up around 200 points this morning.
Latest on the war in Iran:
--Iran continues Gulf strikes after Israel vows to spare energy sites after Trump rebuke
--Crude oil and gas prices declined as the U.S. and Israel sought to reassure investors
--Global stocks are set for a third weekly loss, with no end in sight to the war
--EU bracing for a potentially years-long energy squeeze following strike in Qatar
--Kuwait to partially shut its Al Ahmadi refinery
--The UAE and Saudi Arabia said they intercepted missiles overnight
--Asian countries turn to coal for energy as Iran war rapidly shrinks supplies of gas
--Oil market’s seaborne tanker buffer runs down fast as Iran war drags on
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced a bill that would require mandatory price reporting of fertilizer — a bid for more market information after the war in Iran prompted the biggest surge in crop nutrient costs in years, said a Bloomberg report. “At a time when rising fertilizer costs and low commodity prices are continuing to erode farmers’ profitability, we should be increasing price transparency for farmers in the current market and increasing domestic fertilizer production and storage here at home,” Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota, said in a statement. The Fertilizer Transparency Act would offer market participants of all sizes with comparable levels of market information on fertilizer components. The bill is also sponsored by Senators including Republicans John Thune of South Dakota and Roger Marshall of Kansas. Because fertilizer is produced primarily outside the U.S., pricing can be seen as opaque, according to some critics of the sector, said Bloomberg.
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CORN: May corn futures saw profit-taking overnight. Additional selling finds support at $4.60 1/4, the 10-day moving average. Resistance comes in at yesterday’s high of $4.70.
SOYBEANS: May soybeans continue to bounce. Recent gains stopped shy of the 20-day and 10-day moving averages at $11.72 1/4 and $11.77, respectively. Support comes in at $11.60 then $11.53 1/2 on a turn lower.
WHEAT: May SRW futures gave up a portion of recent gains overnight. Losses stopped right at 10-day moving average support at $5.98. A break below that mark eyes support at $5.89. Resistance stands at $6.10 then yesterday’s high of $6.16.
LIVESTOCK CALLS
CATTLE: Choppy/lower.
HOGS: Lower.
CATTLE: Live cattle futures are expected to open with a mostly weaker tone in a continuation of yesterday’s selling pressure. Cash trade remains slow this week with very little trade taking place, not atypical given this afternoon’s Cattle on Feed report. In the Plains states, high temperatures will reach the lower 100s in some places in the southwest today and Saturday. The heat will notably stress livestock, especially after the rapid change from early-week unusually cold weather. Choice beef slid $1.45 to $400.30 Thursday.
HOGS: Lean hogs are expected to open lower in a continuation of recent selling pressure. A weaker than normal cash market has weighed on futures recently. The CME lean hog index is up another 11 cents to $92.04 as of March 18. Pork cutout slid 72 cent to $98.10 Thursday, led by losses in bellies, though movement was solid at 337.93 loads. The cash market needs to signal strength before futures can rebound.