Corn: May corn rose 2 1/2 cents to $4.61, forging a near mid-range close. Corn futures were firmer throughout the session, with strength in wheat futures and a weaker U.S. dollar lending support.
Soybeans: May soybeans fell half a penny to $10.15 1/2 and near mi-range. May meal fell $1.60 to $304.3. May bean oil climbed 51 points to 42.10 cents. Soybean futures struggled to build much bullish momentum today despite persistent strength in grains, particularly wheat futures.
Wheat: May SRW wheat rose 11 1/2 cents to $5.68 1/2, nearer the session high and hit a three-week high. May HRW wheat gained 19 1/2 cents to $6.05 1/2, nearer the daily high and hit a three-week high. The winter wheat futures markets were boosted today by forecasts for extreme weather in U.S. winter wheat country, and by technical buying as the near-term chart postures for both SRW and HRW have turned more bullish.
Cotton: May cotton fell 39 points to 66.98 cents, ending near the session low and below the 40-day moving average. Cotton favored the downside to begin the week, despite outside market support, though technical support curbed notable selling efforts.
Cattle: April live cattle rose $1.85 to $205.025, near the session high and hit a six-week high. May feeder cattle rose $2.65 to $285.30, near the daily high and hit another contract high. The live and feeder cattle futures markets today were supported by follow-through technical buying interest as the charts are firmly bullish, and by better buying interest as risk appetite was a bit keener to start the trading week.
Hogs: Hog futures surged to start the week, with nearby April futures jumping $1.45 to $88.075. Last week’s late cash market slippage continued into the weekend.