Corn: May corn fell 6 1/2 cents to $4.51 1/4, closing below the 200-day moving average. Corn futures extended lower in tandem with wheat futures as a firmer U.S. dollar hovered over commodities, though strengthening crude oil futures helped to limit losses.
Soybeans: May soybeans fell 3/4 cent to $10.01, nearer the daily low. May soybean meal lost $1.50 to $293.60, near the daily low and hit a three-week low. May soybean oil rose 34 points to 42.64 cents, near mid-range and hit a two-week high. The soybean and bean oil markets saw mild to moderate short-covering gains early on today, but soybean bulls faded down the stretch.
Wheat: May SRW wheat closed 8 cents lower at $5.35 1/4, marking a three-week low close, while May HRW futures fell 4 1/4 cents to $5.65; a two-and-a-half week low close. SRW wheat futures extended losses for a third straight session as technical headwinds and a firmer U.S. dollar continued to limit any buyer interest.
Cotton: May cotton rose 54 points to 65.68 cents and nearer the daily high. The cotton futures market saw some short covering today but gains were limited by a risk-off day in the general marketplace, as seen by sharp losses in the U.S. stock indexes.
Cattle: Cattle and feeder futures traded higher Wednesday, with nearby April live cattle rising 70 cents to $207.075. Most-active May feeder futures advanced $1.05 to $285.175, while the expiring March contrast slipped 17.5 cents to $286.80. Traders are still trying to gauge the short-term outlook for the cash cattle market after prices rocketed over $7.00 higher to $212.76 last week.
Hogs: June lean hog futures climbed 30 cents to $96.55 and closed near mid-range. Nearby April futures rose 90 cents to $87.55. Hog futures posted modest strength again today, struggling to build on recent strength in cash fundamentals.