Corn: May corn rose 2 cents to $4.41 3/4, notching the highest close in nearly a month. Corn futures shook off overnight and early session weakness in step with SRW wheat futures, which signaled buyers in the wake of carving a fresh contract low.
Soybeans: May soybean futures fell 4 3/4 cents to $11.79 1/4, settling nearer session lows. May meal futures dropped $4.20 to $337.20, near session lows. May bean oil futures rose 47 points to 46.64 cents. Soybeans quickly reversed overnight losses mid-morning but struggled to maintain gains, chopping near unchanged for the latter portion of today’s session.
Wheat: May SRW wheat closed up 9 1/2 cents at $5.47 1/4 and nearer the session high. Prices hit another contract low early on. May HRW wheat closed up 10 cents at $5.98 3/4, nearer the session high and hit a three-week high. May spring wheat futures rallied 7 1/4 cents to $6.70. The wheat futures markets today saw some more short covering and perceived bargain hunting.
Cotton: May cotton fell 22 points to 95.06 cents, with a close below the 20-day moving average for the first time since Jan. 2. Cotton futures attempted to regain a portion of last week’s losses, but remained limited by technical resistance, while outside markets lent little support.
Cattle: April live cattle closed steady at $187.60. May feeder cattle fell $1.375 to $255.375. Prices closed near mid-ranges. The live cattle futures market saw some more chart consolidation today, while the feeder futures were pressured by more gains in the corn market, which is now showing technical signs of a market bottom being in place.
Hogs: April lean hogs fell $1.10 to settle at $83.275, the lowest close in nearly a month. Lean hog futures saw action on both sides of unchanged today but faced steady selling pressure into the close.