Corn: December corn fell 1 3/4 cents to $4.52 1/4, after carving the highest intraday level since June 25. Corn futures notched a fresh for-the-move high in early trade, which spurred some corrective pressure as the session progressed.
Soybeans: March soybean futures climbed 2 cents to $9.91 3/4 though settled nearer session lows. March meal futures rose $1.30 to $311.80. March bean oil futures closed 30 points higher to 40.30 cents. After opening higher overnight and trending higher in the overnight session, soybeans closed around unchanged.
Wheat: March SRW wheat rose 1 3/4 cents to $5.48 1/4 and near mid-range. March HRW wheat gained 1 1/4 cents to $5.55 3/4 and nearer the session low. March spring wheat futures fell 2 cents to $5.93 1/4. The wheat futures markets saw buying interest limited by a firmer U.S. dollar index to start the trading week.
Cotton: March cotton fell 41 points to 68.48 cents, marking a low-range close. Cotton futures edged lower to begin the week, with weakness in equities and a firmer U.S. dollar offsetting support from strength in crude oil.
Cattle: February live cattle fell 35 cents to $190.30 and nearer the session low. January feeder cattle rose 25 cents to $261.625, nearer the session high and hit a six-month high today. A bit worrisome for the cattle market bulls to start the trading week is that cattle futures markets today got little to no price support from stronger cash cattle trade last week, along with good gains in wholesale beef prices recently.
Hogs: Hog futures fell sharply Monday, with nearby February futures tumbling $2.525 to $81.625. Anticipation of short-term weakness seemed to undercut hog futures badly Monday, possibly reflecting some year-end profit-taking and a belated bearish response to the Dec. 23 USDA Hogs & Pigs report.