Corn: December corn fell 1/4 cent to $4.20 1/2, nearer the session high. Corn futures faced pressure for the eighth straight session, though solid crude oil gains and increasing strength in SRW wheat and soybean futures spurred light short-covering from the session low.
Soybeans: November soybean futures firmed 7 cents to $11.11 while nearby August futures rallied 12 1/2 cents to $11.46. August meal futures rose $3.00 to $349.00 and settled nearer session highs. August bean oil future jumped 196 points to 46.03 cents. Old-crop futures led corrective buying efforts today though prices continue to trade in a steep technical downtrend on the daily bar chart.
Wheat: December SRW wheat rose 15 1/2 cents to $6.12 1/2. December HRW wheat gained 12 cents to $6.15 1/4. Both markets closed near their session highs. December spring wheat rose 18 1/4 cents to $6.50 3/4. The winter wheat futures markets today saw more short covering from recent losses that put both SRW and HRW in technically oversold conditions.
Cotton: December cotton rose 41 points to 73.10, ending the session above the 10-day moving average. Cotton futures posted modest gains to begin the week as solid gains in crude oil futures curbed selling interest, though USDA’s larger-than-expected acreage data continued to limit a move higher.
Cattle: August live cattle fell $1.15 to $184.275 and near mid-range. August feeder cattle closed down $1.925 at $257.375 and nearer the session low. The cattle futures markets today saw profit-taking pressure from recent gains.
Hogs: Bulls couldn’t sustain early strength in hog futures, with the expiring July contract slipping 37.5 cents to $89.20 at the close, while most-active August tumbled $1.325 to $88.175. As has become rather routine in recent weeks, pork prices set back this morning in the wake of a sizeable Friday advance.