GRAIN CALLS
Corn: 5 to 7 cents lower.
Soybeans: 9 to 11 cents lower.
Wheat: 10 to 12 cents lower.
GENERAL COMMENTS: Corn, soybeans and wheat scored new lows overnight following a peace deal with Iran. The move indicates bearish technical breakdowns on the daily bar chart for each market. Front-month crude oil futures traded solidly lower overnight as well, breaking below the $80-mark for a time. The U.S. dollar index is around 270 points lower this morning.
The U.S. and Iran reached an interim agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, halting their war in the Middle East. Officials from the two countries will meet Friday in Switzerland to formally sign the agreement, with key sticking points left for the next stage of talks, including the removal of sanctions and financial incentives for Iran. The agreement could bring peace and security to the region, but its details remain unresolved, and both sides are casting the deal in different lights, underscoring the difficulties that may lie ahead in resolving outstanding issues. Even as he celebrated the deal, Trump told the New York Times in an interview Sunday that if an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program isn’t reached, he could restart military attacks.
JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker and the largest U.S. beef processor by volume, announced Friday it plans to close a plant in Souderton, Pennsylvania, in response to short cattle supplies. The Wall Street Journal said the single-shift plant employs about 1,700 people and can slaughter roughly 2,000 cattle a day – making it one of the company’s smaller facilities. JBS is also planning to close a smaller meat packaging plant in Memphis that employs about 200 people, the report said, while maintaining plans for a $150 million investment in its much larger Cactus, Texas, beef plant.
CORN: July corn futures scored a contract low overnight. Support comes in at $4.05 then the psychological $4.00 mark on persistent selling. Resistance stands at $4.10 then $4.19 on corrective strength.
SOYBEANS: July soybean futures hit a new low overnight. Bulls are looking to hold support at $11.00 on continued selling pressure. Resistance comes in at $11.15, the bottom end of the recent sideways range, on a bounce.
WHEAT: July SRW wheat hit a fresh for-the-move low overnight. Support comes in at $5.70 on persistent selling pressure. Resistance comes in at $5.80 then $5.85 on a bounce.
LIVESTOCK CALLS
CATTLE: Choppy/higher.
HOGS: Higher.
CATTLE: Cattle futures are expected to open with a mostly firmer tone. Prices showed stiff support after pushing lower early Friday as prices fell below before eventually closing back above the 10-day moving average. Reports of higher cash cattle trade Friday likely boosted futures. Choice beef fell $1.28 to $391.93 Friday as boxed beef continues to consolidate.
HOGS: Hog futures are expected to open higher in a continuation of Friday’s strength. Corrective buying led futures higher. Weakness in the cash market could thwart bulls’ efforts though, as the CME lean hog index fell another 15 cents to $92.75 as of June 11. Pork cutout meanwhile surged $2.92 higher to $97.39 Friday, led by gains in butts and hams.