Grains close in the red. Monday, January 2, 2024

March corn ended the day down 7½¢.

March soybeans are down 24½¢.

CBOT wheat is down 21¼¢. KC wheat is down 13¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 8½¢.

Live cattle are up $3.43. Feeder cattle are up $3.35. Lean hogs are down $2.65.

Crude oil is down $1.14.

“Prior to the grain opening at 8:30 this morning, crude oil was up about two dollars per barrel,” said the Grain Market Insider newsletter by Stewart-Peterson Inc. at midday. “However, as of [this] writing it has dropped and has been trading both sides of neutral. This decline may be affecting soybeans and the grain markets as a whole.”

The U.S. Dollar Index March contract is up to 101.89.

S&P 500 futures are down 43 points. Dow futures are down 76 points.

Grains kicking off year in red: 11:15 a.m. CST

March corn is currently down 8¼¢.

CBOT wheat is down 13¢. KC wheat is down 10¼¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 7¼¢.

“An active rain pattern began to develop over dry areas of Center-West Brazil over the holiday weekend – not general rains, but an active thunderstorm pattern, nonetheless,” says Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX. “Commodity Weather Group notes that two-thirds of Brazil’s soybean belt saw 0.50″ to 2.50″, locally up to 7.75″ of rain over the past four days favoring central and northern areas of the soybean belt. The next five days should see another 0.50″ to 2.50″, locally 6.00” over 60% of the belt, filling in many of the dry areas…

“Much of the yield potential in Center-West Brazil should be set with this round of rain. That doesn’t mean that all will be well with the crop, as some irreversible damage was done by the prolonged heat and dryness in the region. But it does mean that weather will have less of an impact on the soybean crop’s potential in Center-West Brazil beyond this event, with the focus soon shifting to the winter corn crop planting.”

Live cattle are up $3.88. Feeder cattle are up $4.05. Lean hogs are down $1.08.

Crude oil is down 79¢.

S&P 500 futures are down 27 points. Dow futures are up 15 points.

Tags: corn, soybeans, wheat, futures, live cattle, feeder cattle, lean hogs