GRAIN CALLS
Corn: 1 to 3 cents higher.
Soybeans: 1 to 3 cents higher.
Wheat: 3 to 5 cents higher.
GENERAL COMMENTS: Wheat led strength overnight and has maintained most of the recent gains, while corn and soybeans are struggling to garner much bullish momentum. Bulls need to finish the week well off this week’s lows in order to prevent further technical damage on the daily bar charts. Outside markets are unsupportive this morning as front-month crude oil futures are solidly lower following a deescalation in Iran, while the U.S. dollar index is around 250 points higher.
President Trump insisted he does not plan to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell despite a Justice Department probe into the central bank’s renovation. “I don’t have any plan to do that,” Trump said Wednesday in an interview with Reuters and as reported by Bloomberg. Still, the president said he had not arrived at a conclusion about whether the probe would give him grounds to oust the Fed chair, saying it’s “too early” to say. “Right now, we’re (in) a little bit of a holding pattern with him, and we’re going to determine what to do. But I can’t get into it,” he said.
President Trump indicated he might hold off on attacking Iran for now after saying he was reassured by sources “on the other side” that the government in Tehran would stop killing people involved in widespread protests, according to a Bloomberg report. “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping — it’s stopped,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. He said he’d been “informed by very important sources on the other side” about the decision not to proceed with the killings, and that he would be “very upset” if the crackdown continued. Asked if military action was off the table, Trump said he would “watch it” and “see what the process is.” “But we were given a very good, very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on,” Trump said. “The comments marked a shift in tone a day after he urged Iranians to continue protests against the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and vowed to ‘act accordingly’ after being briefed on the killings of protesters. He posted on social media that ‘help is on the way,’” said Bloomberg.
China’s central bank signaled it has room to further reduce interest rates and bank reserve requirements, while stepping up targeted support for the economy with a cut to the cost of its structural lending tools, Bloomberg reports. Deputy Governor Zou Lan said today the People’s Bank of China sees “some space” to reduce both the reserve requirement ratio and policy rates this year. The central bank will lower the interest rates on its structural monetary policy tools by 0.25 percentage points, reducing the one-year rate for various relending facilities to 1.25% from 1.5%, effective Monday. “The moves signal a commitment to use mostly targeted adjustments to bolster an economy hampered by weak demand and deep-seated imbalances. The PBOC delivered just one 10-basis-point reduction to the policy interest rate in 2025 — far less than the 40 to 60 basis points of easing many had expected,” said Bloomberg.
CORN: March corn futures struggled to overcome yesterday’s high of $4.25 overnight. Bulls are looking to maintain prices above support at $4.20 and $4.17 1/4 on a turn lower.
SOYBEANS: March soybeans traded in a tight range overnight. Bulls are looking to overcome resistance at $10.50 on strength. Support comes in at $10.40 then $10.38 3/4 on a push lower.
WHEAT: March SRW futures saw followthrough gains overnight. Prices are trading near the 20-day moving average at $5.16 1/4, a key pivot today. Additional strength eyes resistance at $5.22. Support comes in at $5.10 1/2 on a reversal lower.
LIVESTOCK CALLS
CATTLE: Higher.
HOGS: Higher.
CATTLE: Live cattle futures are expected to open with a mostly firmer tone, supported by technical buying. The 10-day moving average has served up support the last couple weeks. February futures closed right at that level Wednesday and some technical buying is likely today. Cash trade remains light so far this week with just 78 head trading hands through midweek. Wholesale beef was modestly firmer Wednesday with choice rising 54 cents to $358.53 while select rose 47 cents to $357.65.
HOGS: Lean hogs are expected to open higher in a continuation of recent strength. Bulls defended key support Wednesday, maintaining the uptrend on the daily bar chart. Slowing declines CME lean hog index likely has traders thinking a seasonal bottom is close at hand. The index is down another 11 cents to $80.39 as of Jan. 13. Pork cutout fell 51 cents to $91.29 Wednesday, led by losses in butts and bellies.