Corn: March corn rose 6 1/4 cents to $4.90 1/4, closing near the session high. Corn futures managed to claw back a portion of Tuesday’s losses despite lacking outside market support and a fading soy complex.
Soybeans: March soybeans fell 15 3/4 cents to $10.27 3/4, nearer the daily low and hit a near four-week low. March soybean meal fell $2.50 to $294.10, nearer the session low and hit a two-month low. March soybean oil fell 47 points to 45.66 cents and nearer the session low. Technical selling pressure and improving weather conditions in South American soybean-growing regions hit the soy futures markets today.
Wheat: March SRW wheat fell 2 3/4 cents to $5.74 1/4, while March HRW futures closed 1 1/4 cents lower at $5.91 1/2. Each closed near session lows. A rather muted tone occurred across wheat futures at midweek as bears were hesitant amid firm technical support, while short-covering was pared by consolidative efforts after last week’s reach to a three-month high.
Cotton: March cotton rose 7 points to 67.47 cents and nearer the daily low. The cotton market saw a pause and some chart consolidation after making decent price gains this week.
Cattle: Cattle futures traded mixed Wednesday, with February live cattle sliding 52.5 cents to $199.15 and most-active April slipping 27.5 cents to $195.725. March feeder futures gained 20 cents to $264.975. The cattle and beef sector is clearly expecting continued cash market weakness in the days ahead.
Hogs: April lean hog futures surged $1.35 to $94.325 and closed nearer session highs while nearby February futures climbed 72.5 cents to $89.45. The latter expires at noon Friday. April lean hog futures surged to fresh contract highs today, supported by persistent strength in the CME lean hog index.