Corn closes up slightly | Wednesday, July 24, 2024

December corn ended the day up less than a penny.

November soybeans closed down 11½¢.

September wheat contracts closed mixed. CBOT wheat is up 4¼¢. KC wheat is up less than a penny. Minneapolis wheat is down 4¾¢.

“Corn, soybeans, and wheat traded on both sides of unchanged in today’s session,” says Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting. “Grains showed more strength than soybeans as reports of additional stress to the Black Sea corn and wheat crops are intensifying. This is also impacting oilseed production, but not to the extent it is the grains.

“U.S. corn offers are now competitive with South America, and this may bring the U.S. more export business. Reports out of Brazil indicate farmers are storing more corn than expected, which also favors U.S. exports. Soybeans struggled today as meal values were higher, but oil was under pressure. A general lack of soybean demand for all sources was negative as well.

“The U.S. dollar softened today, which was positive for commodities. Inconsistent export demand limited gains, though, as did the lack of a major weather threat for U.S. crop development. The energy complex was higher today on news Russia will suspend gasoline exports starting Aug. 1, which gave the renewable fuel market support.”

October live cattle settled up 15¢ today. August feeder cattle are down $1.63. October lean hogs are up 90¢.

September crude oil is currently up 58¢.

September S&P 500 futures are currently down 120 points. September Dow futures are down 446 points.

Published: 2:28 p.m. CT

Corn up 2¢ as trading day gets going: 9:17 a.m. CT

December corn is up 2¼¢ this morning.

November soybeans are down 4¾¢.

September wheat contracts are mixed. CBOT wheat is up 4¢. KC wheat is up less than a penny. Minneapolis wheat is down 1¾¢.

“Most pundits on the wire services are describing recent strength as ‘purely technical’ and little more than ‘bear market rallies’ and frankly, we can't make much of a case for any sustainable strength either,” says the Commstock Report. “We’ve still got a slug of farmer-owned old crop that needs to be sold to make room for new crop and have seen some basis slippage beginning for that very reason.”

Bob Linneman, commodities broker at Kluis Commodity Advisors, says: “Traders have added risk premium back to the grain market, since weather for last week of July and the first week of August look to be less than ideal. However, the crop ratings remain impressive. The pace of planting this spring was behind normal, making this late-July heat even more important to watch.” 

October live cattle are unchanged this morning. August feeder cattle are down 58¢. October lean hogs are up 3¢.

September crude oil is up 50¢.

The U.S. Dollar Index September contract is down to 103.94.

September S&P 500 futures and September Dow futures are down, 73 points and 340 points, respectively.

Published: 9:17 a.m. CT