On Monday, the CME Group’s farm markets close lower.
At the close, the March corn futures settled 4¢ lower at $4.92. May corn futures are 3½¢ lower at $4.94.
March soybean futures closed 2¼¢ lower at $13.72. May soybean futures ended 1¼¢ lower at $13.70½.
March wheat futures closed 4¢ lower at $6.34¾.
March soymeal futures ended $7.20 short term higher at $446.80.
March soy oil futures closed 0.96¢ lower at 42.63¢ per pound.
In the outside markets, the NYMEX crude oil market is $0.19 per barrel lower (-0.36%) at $52.05. The U.S. dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 89 points lower (-0.29%) at 31,008 points.
Jack Scoville, PRICE Futures Group, says the markets dropped due to the focus put on tomorrow’s USDA Reports.
“We are down a bit mostly on spec long liquidation before the reports tomorrow. Soybeans have recovered from the early lows, and the chart patterns are still bullish. Wheat is struggling as is corn. Corn is not as bullish as beans, with Argentina allowing exports and the weak U.S. ethanol demand,” Scoville says.
On Monday, private exporters reported to the USDA the following activity:
- Export sales of 132,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2020/2021 marketing year.
- Export sales of 108,500 metric tons of corn for delivery to Colombia during the 2020/2021 marketing year.
- The marketing year for corn and soybeans began Sept. 1.
Al Kluis, Kluis Advisors, says that the third week of a month’s trading can be telling.
“I am watching the January Soybean contract as we approach contract expiration on Thursday, January 14. In the last few months, prices have rallied into the third week of the month and then pulled back to a low the first week of the month. I am watching to see if that pattern develops again in January and then into early February,” Linneman stated in a daily note to customers.
Kluis added, “On Tuesday, the USDA’s final Annual Crop Production and supply/demand reports will be released at 11:00 a.m. CT. This is one of the most important reports (and days) of the year.”
