Soybeans down 8¢ | Monday, October 28, 2024

December corn is down 1½¢ this morning.

January soybeans are down 8¼¢.

December wheat contracts are also down. CBOT wheat is down 6¼¢. KC wheat is down 5½¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 6¢.

“It’s difficult to sustain a rally in the corn and soybean markets in the midst of a record harvest when storage is limited and rains are falling in South America, leading to expectations of record crops there as well,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX. “Demand for corn and soybeans has been good lately, as end users seek to increase coverage at what is perceived to be harvest lows. But demand needs to be good due to the sheer size of the anticipated supply this year.

“That’s particularly a concern for soybeans, where export demand is still lagging the pace needed to hit USDA’s target and production prospects have improved dramatically for South America. Cheap prices are expected to support demand for U.S. corn going forward, while soybeans may struggle to find that story.”

Last week, the USDA announced new export sales Monday through Friday. At the start of this week, the USDA announced yet more sales:

• Japan is buying 124,000 metric tons of corn for the 2024/2025 marketing year.
• Unidentified destinations are buying 120,000 metric tons of corn for the 2024/2025 marketing year.

December live cattle are up 5¢. January feeder cattle are up 45¢. December lean hogs are down 8¢.

December crude oil is down $3.83. Suderman said, “Israel finally carried out its retaliatory strike on Iran following Iran’s strike on it nearly four weeks earlier. The market’s fear was that Israel would strike Iran’s energy and/or nuclear infrastructure, resulting in aggressive retaliatory strikes by Iran on Israel, as well as on any other country’s infrastructure whose airspace was used in the strike. That could dramatically escalate the war in the Middle East, while restricting energy supplies emerging from the region. Those fears eased somewhat earlier this month on wire service stories that Israel had agreed to focus on military targets, but the fears lingered.

“The current perception is that Israel retaliated against Iran in a way that allows both sides to ‘save face’ to de-escalate the conflict, while striking a blow to Iran’s military capability. The conflict is not going to go away. It’s been simmering for thousands of years. But the collapse of the crude oil markets [on Sunday] indicates that energy traders believe that the threat has eased for now, allowing them to focus on an abundant supply in the midst of struggling demand — largely due to China’s ailing economy.”

December S&P 500 futures are up 25 points. December Dow futures are up 260 points.

The U.S. Dollar Index December contract is down to 104.11.

Published: 9:47 a.m. CT