Grains ending the week in the red. Friday, January 26, 2023

March corn is down 5½¢ this morning.

March soybeans are down 9¼¢.

CBOT wheat is down 17¼¢. KC wheat is down 13¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 9½¢.

“This week’s rally in the commodities ran into headwinds overnight as the speculative funds stepped in to defend their short positions, rather than to get out of them,” says Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX. “I’ve noted this week that the rally seen in the food and energy commodities had less to do with a change in the fundamentals, but more to do with both end users and speculators growing uncomfortable at these low price levels with the sheer size of the short positions – especially in the grain and oilseed complex – at a time of elevated geopolitical risks. They feared a headline that could create a panic exit of those speculative shorts.

“Much of that geopolitical risk was tied to Red Sea freight risks, where Houthi Rebels have been attacking ships that were utilizing the Suez Canal. The fears eased a bit today on reports that Chinese officials asked Iran to help rein in the attacks on ships, which were hurting its trade with Europe and the Black Sea region.”

Naomi Blohm, senior market adviser for Total Farm Marketing, said this morning before the 8:30 a.m. CST open that grains are lower this morning because Argentina increased the estimate for the size of its soybean crop to 52.5 million metric tons.

Unlike the grains, livestock are in the green. Live cattle are up 98¢. Feeder cattle are up $1.00. Lean hogs are up 5¢.

Crude oil is up 13¢.

S&P 500 futures are up 4 points. Dow futures are up 104 points.

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