Month End Closes in the Red

At the market close, May corn was down 11½¢ at $4.69½ per bushel.

May soybeans were 11½¢ weaker at $10.25¾ per bushel.

“An early attempt at a rally [Friday] was met with selling pressure, particularly in corn and soybeans. Improved weather in South America that is allowing for rapid harvest in both Brazil and Argentina is putting more inventory into the global market.” Karl Setzer, Partner with Consus Ag Consulting said, “This comes at a time when the U.S. government is placing additional tariffs on the United States’ top trade partners, causing uncertain demand outlooks.”

Setzer added, “The U.S. may not lose as much export demand as feared though, as even with elevated harvest activity in South America, domestic demand is cutting into export volumes and will all year. Economic outlooks are also concerning from a domestic point of view following data suggesting further delays to interest rate cuts.”

May wheat contracts ended lower on the last day of the week and month. CBOT wheat was down 6¾¢ at $5.55¾ per bushel. KC wheat dropped 12¼¢ at $5.73 per bushel. Minneapolis wheat fell 7¢ at $5.97¾¢ per bushel.

 April live cattle were down $3.47 at $192.65 per hundredweight (cwt). March feeder cattle were down $2.55 at $273.00 per cwt. April lean hogs were 70¢ lower at $83.67 per cwt.

Just after 3:00 p.m. CT, April crude oil was down 27¢ at $70.08 per barrel.

March S&P 500 futures were up 86 points. March Dow futures increased 589 points.

The March U.S. Dollar Index was up 299 points.

Published: 3:18 a.m. CT

Markets Mixed at Month End: 9:27 a.m. CT

Shortly before 9:00 a.m. CT, May corn was down 1¢ at $4.80 per bushel.

May soybeans were 4¾¢ higher at $10.42 per bushel.

Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities said, “It’s first notice day on the grain and the bull attitude continues to fade. Funds are still huge longs in the corn, liquidating at the end of the month rather than buying. The bottom line this week was the outlook forum we had [Thursday and Friday], it kind of continued to put a negative shield over the top of this market because ending stocks were going up, acres going up, and prices going down.”

May wheat contracts saw a mixed trade starting off the day. CBOT wheat was 4½¢ more at $5.67 per bushel. KC wheat dropped 1¢ at $5.84¼ per bushel. Minneapolis wheat was up 1¢ at $6.05¾ per bushel.

 April live cattle were down 35¢ at $195.77 per hundredweight (cwt). March feeder cattle were up 92¢ at $276.47 per cwt. April lean hogs were 57¢ stronger at $84.95 per cwt.

April crude oil was down 89¢ at $69.46 per barrel.

March S&P 500 futures were up 6 points. March Dow futures increased 143 points.

Published: 9:27 a.m. CT