Corn: March corn rose 3 1/2 cents to $4.40 3/4, closing near the session high and above the 20-day moving average. After spending most of the morning session chopping around unchanged, corn futures turned decidedly higher into the noon hour, in unison with the soy complex.
Soybeans: January soybean futures climbed 11 1/4 cents to $9.63 and settled nearer session highs. January meal futures surged $4.60 to $284.10, near session highs. January bean oil rallied 46 points to 40.01 cents. Soybeans surged on short profit-taking after marking a fresh contract low in the overnight session.
Wheat: March SRW wheat fell 8 1/4 cents to $5.33, nearer the daily low and hit a contract low. March HRW wheat fell 5 1/2 cents to $5.43 1/4 and nearer the session low. More technical selling pressure and a “risk-off” tone in the marketplace today sunk the wheat futures markets.
Cotton: March cotton futures fell 17 points to 67.91 cents. Cotton futures forged a fresh contract low early in the session before rebounding into the close, led by corrective strength.
Cattle: February live cattle fell $1.775 to $186.55 Thursday, near the session low and hit a two-week low. January feeder cattle fell $2.525 to $254.475, nearer the session low and hit a nearly four-week low. Technical selling from the speculators was featured in the cattle futures markets today, as the near-term chart postures for both live cattle and feeder cattle have deteriorated recently.
Hogs: Hog futures slipped lower Thursday, with nearby February futures skidding 7.5 cents to $83.625 at the close. The cash hog and wholesale pork markets sustained their recent strength Thursday.