Corn: May corn fell 2 cents to $6.33 3/4, nearer the session low. Corn futures ultimately failed to continue the previous session’s gains as a stronger U.S. dollar and tepid weekly export sales did little to excite the market.
Soybeans: May soybean futures gained 15 cents to $15.09 1/4 and nearer the session high. May soybean meal rose $2.00 at $472.30 and near mid-range. May bean oil rose 107 points to 61.90 cents and near the session high. Short covering from the shorter-term speculative traders was featured in all three soy complex markets today, following selling pressure earlier this week.
Wheat: May SRW rose 2 3/4 cents to $7.12 3/4, a slight continued bounce from yesterday’s contract low. Mary HRW rose 9 3/4 cents to $8.26. May spring wheat futures rose 11 3/4 cents to close at $8.75 1/4, near the session high. Wheat futures bulls fought an uphill battle today following recent continued weakness and a strong U.S. dollar index.
Cotton: May cotton dropped 195 points at 83.71 cents, nearer the session low. The cotton futures market was hit hard today by disappointing weekly USDA export sales, a stronger U.S. dollar index and a wobbly U.S. stock market, as the stock indexes this week have hit multi-week lows and are trending down.
Cattle: April live cattle futures continued yesterday’s decline another $1.025 to $164.1. March feeders clawed out a 27.5 gain to close at $188.75. April live cattle saw continued persistent selling from last Friday’s contract high.
Hogs: Nearby April hog futures sank $1.10 cents to $83.85 Thursday. Deferred futures traded mostly lower. Hog traders remain skeptical of the market’s ability to rally this spring, with today’s April futures decline putting the nearby contract less than $5.50 above the latest official quote for the CME hog index.