Corn futures are trading within a penny of either side of unchanged at midmorning.
· Corn futures have bounced from a fresh near-term low, though weakness in soybeans and wheat is curbing buyer interest.
· Favorable soil moisture along with mostly mild temps through Friday and a lack of widespread heat throughout the next week will keep crop conditions mostly favorable during a drier weather pattern expected during the next two weeks.
· Ethanol production averaged 1.054 million barrels per day (bpd) during the week ended July 5, down 10,000 bpd (0.9%) from the previous week but up 2.1% from last year. Ethanol stocks increased 9,000 barrels to 23.603 million barrels.
· December corn is finding support at $4.02 1/2, while initial resistance stands at $4.10.
Soybeans are mostly a nickel to 11 cents lower. Soymeal futures are around $1.00 to $5.00 lower. Soyoil is narrowly mixed.
· November soybeans are facing a third straight day of selling as technical pressure and a lack of threatening weather continues to weigh on the market.
· USDA reported daily sales of 132,000 MT of soybeans to China for 2024-25. This marked the first new-crop sale to China.
· Malaysian palm oil stocks in June rose 4% on the month to 1.83 MMT; a four-month high, despite a 12.8% drop in exports and 5.2% decline in production from May.
· November soybeans have extended to a fresh near-term low. Support is at $10.71 1/4. Initial resistance stands at $10.86 1/4.
Winter wheat futures are mostly 7 to 10 cents lower, while spring wheat is a nickel lower.
· Wheat futures have worked off their earlier lows but remain solidly lower.
· Updated Russian wheat production figures for 2024-25 indicate the crop will range from 82 MMT to 86 MMT, according to Fastmarkets. While this would be down from earlier forecasts of 92 MMT, the forecast has improved due to better-than-expected yields in the south of the country and improving crop prospects in other regions.
· India plans to sell wheat from its state reserves to bulk consumers such as flour millers and biscuit makers starting in August, according to a government order seen by Reuters.
· December SRW wheat is finding support at the June 26 low of $5.79, while initial resistance stands at the 10-day moving average of $5.98 1/2.
Live cattle are mixed with a downside bias while feeders are marking moderate to sharp losses.
· August live cattle are choppy in narrow trade following two days of heavy selling.
· Selling in cattle futures this week could impact cash cattle trade, with cash sources expecting “steady at best,” while some are calling for a downturn after four weeks of record prices.
· Wholesale beef fell on Tuesday, with Choice plummeting $4.81 to $325.66, while Select declined 41 cents to $304.31, narrowing the Choice/Select spread to $21.35. Movement totaled 130 loads for the day.
· August live cattle are trading within Tuesday’s lower range, holding between the 20- and 40-day moving averages of $183.44 and $181.10. Additional support/resistance are at the 10-day moving average of $184.90 and $179.88.
Hogs are sharply lower in most contracts at midsession.
· August hog futures are sharply lower as technical pressure combines with fading cash and wholesale fundamentals cast a shadow over prices.
· The CME lean hog index is down 33 cents to $88.43 as of July 8. Fall- and winter-month contracts sharply extended their discounts to the cash index, signaling traders expect heavy pressure on the cash hog market as slaughter supplies build seasonally during the second half of the year.
· The pork cutout value slid $2.24 on Tuesday to $93.75 amid a drop in all cuts. Movement totaled 311.5 loads.
· August lean hogs gapped lower at the open and marked a fresh contract low of $85.255. Conversely, initial resistance stands at the open and intraday high of $87.875.