Corn: March corn futures surged a nickel to $4.40 and closed near session highs. That marked a 7-cent gain on the week. Corn futures showed impressive strength to end the week despite wavering strength in soy and wheat futures.
Soybeans: January soybeans closed unchanged at $9.93 3/4 but rose 4 1/4 cents on the week. January meal slid $3.60 to $283.80 and marked a weekly loss of $4.50, while January soyoil rose 66 points to 42.97 cents and rose 123 points on the week. Soybeans continue to face technical challenges along with lingering pressure from soymeal futures and a stronger U.S. dollar, though strength soyoil and corn futures helped lift futures closer to positive territory into midmorning trade.
Wheat: March SRW wheat futures fell 1 cent to $5.57 1/4, near mid-range and on the week up 9 1/4 cents. March HRW wheat rose 1 1/4 cents to $5.53 3/4, nearer the daily high and for the week up 13 cents. March Spring wheat futures fell 2 cents to $5.96 1/2 but rose 4 3/4 cents on the week. Some modest short covering was featured late this week in the winter wheat futures markets, after notching contract lows earlier in the week.
Cotton: March cotton fell 99 points to 70.11 cents and marked a 182-point weekly loss. Cotton futures succumbed to selling to pressure amid lacking outside-market support and technical resistance to end the week.
Cattle: February live cattle futures fell 15 cents to $186.175, near the session low and hit a three-week low. For the week, February cattle fell $2.45. January feeder cattle futures gained 90 cents to $255.825 and near mid-range. On the week, January feeders fell $3.65. The cattle futures markets this week fell victim to some profit-taking pressure from the speculators, as the near-term technical postures have eroded, especially in live cattle.
Hogs: Expiring December hog futures climbed 87.5 cents to $83.30 Friday. Most-active February futures advanced 97.5 cents to $87.325. That represented a weekly rise of $1.00. The hog situation seems likely to remain surprisingly stable over the next week, especially when viewed in light of Friday’s sizeable December futures’ gain, since that likely reflects the best opinion of industry insiders concerning price fluctuations during the run-up to next Friday’s (12/13) contract expiration.