GRAIN CALLS
Corn: 2 to 4 cents higher.
Soybeans: 6 to 8 cents higher.
Wheat: 8 to 10 cents higher.
GENERAL COMMENTS: Grains rose on corrective buying overnight, building on recent gains. Corn bulls need a close above $4.25 to negate a potential bear-flag on the daily bar chart. Front-month crude oil futures are modestly higher this morning while the U.S. dollar index is down around 70 points.
The consumer price index rose to 4.2% year-over-year in May, marking the highest annual inflation rate since April 2023. That is up from 3.8% in April but was in line with market expectations. Energy costs continue to lead inflation higher. Core CPI, which removes food and energy prices, rose 2.9% year-over-year, the highest mark since September 2025, up from 2.8% in April. Energy costs lead headline inflation higher, while the core figure has seen less movement.
The U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes overnight after President Trump retaliated against Tehran for shooting down an American Apache helicopter. The U.S. military said it had completed an operation that saw fighter jets strike Iranian air defenses, ground control stations and radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran launched missiles on four American targets and fired drones at the main U.S. naval base in the Middle East, with no immediate reports of casualties in any of the attacks. The skirmishes further jolted a two-month-old truce and exposed the fragility of talks between the warring sides aimed at securing peace in the Middle East.
An El Niño weather pattern has formed across the equatorial Pacific, “setting the stage for months of droughts, floods and temperature fluctuations that will threaten communities worldwide along with agriculture and energy,” said a Bloomberg report out overnight. The climate phenomenon comes for the first since 2023 — and could be one of the strongest on record. “This time it could be particularly powerful. There’s a 67% chance it may evolve into a strong or very strong event — what’s informally known as a ‘Super El Niño’ — heading into 2027, according to the U.S. Climate Prediction Center. The El Niño event is expected to intensify in the coming months, and become very strong later in the year, persisting into at least December, according to Japan’s meteorology officials. “El Niño is characterized by a warming of the Pacific Ocean that alters global weather patterns, which can damage crops and strain power grids. Even before the declaration, its impact has been felt across various regions, from a delayed start to the Indian monsoon to a temporary halt to Peru’s fishing season,” said the report.
CORN: July corn futures are trading in the upper end of yesterday’s range. Bulls’ objective is closing prices above key resistance at $4.25. Support comes in at $4.19 1/4 then $4.17 1/2 on a turn lower.
SOYBEANS: July soybean futures are up on corrective buying. Bulls are eyeing resistance at $11.25 on continued strength. Support comes in at $11.13 3/4 then yesterday’s low of $11.10 1/4 on a reversal lower.
WHEAT: July SRW wheat are favoring the upside. Resistance stands at $5.98 1/4 then the psychological $6.00 mark on continued strength. Support comes in at $5.93 3/4 then $5.90 on a turn lower.
LIVESTOCK CALLS
CATTLE: Choppy/higher.
HOGS: Choppy/higher.
CATTLE: Cattle futures are expected to open with a mostly firmer tone in a continuation of recent strength. Resistance stands at $241.50 on continued strength, a key technical benchmark today. Cash cattle trade initiated early this week at $253.39, down modestly from last week’s five-area average. Choice beef rose 70 cents to $392.90 Tuesday, continuing the recent chop in the low $390’s.
HOGS: Hog futures are expected to open with a mostly firmer tone, driven by corrective buying. Hog futures slid to a fresh low Tuesday and are breaking down further on the daily bar chart. Futures are near-term oversold on the daily bar chart. The CME lean hog index is up another 13 cents to $92.76. Futures traders see modest strength into July in the index before prices turn lower seasonally into the fall. Pork cutout sunk $2.50 to $95.96 Tuesday, led by losses in butts and loins.