Soybeans Close Down Nearly 11¢

March corn ended the day down 4½¢ at $4.82 per bushel.

March soybeans closed down 10¾¢ at $10.45 per bushel.

March wheat contracts also closed lower. CBOT wheat was down 8½¢ at $5.35½ per bushel. KC wheat was down 6¼¢ at $5.53¼ per bushel. Minneapolis wheat was down 9½¢ at $5.85¾ per bushel.

“Corn, soybeans, and wheat were not immune to the losses in several markets today as a general ‘risk off’ attitude was abundant to start the week,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting. “This started overnight with big losses in the world tech market, and this filtered its way through all other markets that have recently benefitted from managed money participation. A flushing of weak longs after the recent run-up in values and a need for margin funds to cover losses in the equity market added to the liquidation in the grains and soy complex.”

April live cattle ended the day up 80¢ at $203.83 per hundredweight (cwt). March feeder cattle were down $1.33 at $275.25 per cwt. April lean hogs were up $1.68 at $89.88 per cwt.

Nearly 10 minutes past 2 p.m. CT, March crude oil was down $1.58.

March S&P 500 futures were down 110 points. March Dow futures were up 163 points.

Published: 2:27 p.m. CT

Grains in the Red to Start the Week: 8:57 a.m. CT

Just past 8:30 a.m. CT, March corn was down 4¾¢.

March soybeans were down 9½¢.

March wheat contracts were also lower. CBOT wheat was down 2½¢. KC wheat was down 1½¢. Minneapolis wheat was down 1½¢.

This morning, USDA announced Mexico is buying 139,000 metric tons of corn for the 2024/2025 marketing year.

Naomi Blohm, senior market advisor at Total Farm Marketing, said it is likely to be a volatile week for the grain markets as there may be fund position squaring going into the end of the month and there are several current unknowns about to play out. Questions include: Will tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China go into effect on Saturday as scheduled or will a deal be struck? Will the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee change interest rates at its meeting this week? How will weather in South America come into play? 

She also said grains are at a tipping point, where they could go lower or trade sideways, but in order to go higher likely all of the following would have to work out: trade wars avoided, poor weather for Brazil’s second corn crop, positive biofuel news, and poor U.S. weather this spring and summer.

April live cattle were down 33¢ a little past 8:30 a.m. CT. March feeder cattle were up 8¢. April lean hogs were up 10¢.

March crude oil was down 23¢.

The U.S. Dollar Index March contract was down to 106.97.

March S&P 500 futures were down 108 points. March Dow futures were down 198 points.

Published: 8:57 a.m. CT