May corn, soybeans end the day up. Thursday, May 17, 2022

May corn ended the day up 24 cents while December corn was 15 better at the close. New crop corn is closing in on the $6.50 resistance with contract highs at $6.58.

May soybeans settled the day up 19 cents with November up 9 cents. November soybeans are finding support at the 30-day average this week.

Wheat prices were able to recover a portion of the losses sustained from Wednesday. May CBOT was 29 higher at the close while KC was up 20.

Minneapolis managed to close up 29, which was right on the 15-day average. A strong close to the week would be a great sign for the grain bulls given the weakness seen earlier in the week.

Livestock ended the day mixed. April Feeder Cattle were down $1.52 while April Live Cattle managed to close 22 cents higher. April Lean Hogs were down $1.85 while many of the deferred months were down double that. Traders are slightly concerned about demand given the shutdowns in China due to Covid. Recent headlines suggest China is starting to allow many of those areas to re open, which will hopefully make this setback in livestock short lived.

April Crude oil ended the day up nearly $8. That puts prices back at $103 per barrel. RBOB gasoline was stronger on the day closing up 22 cents. LSDF (low sulfur diesel fuel) was up 38 cents on the day.

The stock market managed to gain momentum when prices broke above the high from yesterday. The next upside target in the S&P 500 June futures is the 50-day average.

Grain traders are still working out the details of what could possibly be produced in Ukraine this year. This is some serious guess work being done, as their is no one that has the real answer at this time.

May corn futures are up 18¢; while May soybean futures are up 23¢. Wheat prices have traded in the red and in the black today. Currently, CBOT wheat is down 2¢ and KC wheat is down 5¢.

Livestock prices are weaker this morning, presumably because of the stronger grain market. Feeder Cattle are down $1.72 while Live Cattle are down 55¢. Lean hogs are 40¢ to 75¢ lower to start the day.

Crude oil is up $6.50 this morning. The April contract has hit the 20-day average and backed off. The crude bulls are needing to get through this line of resistance and post a convincing close over it.

The daily USDA export sales report announced a sale of 136,000 metric tons of corn to unknown destinations for the 2021/2022 marketing year. This is surprising since Brazilian corn is cheaper than U.S. corn at the moment.

Trade estimates for the total weekly USDA export sales report are as follows (metric tons): corn is 900,000 to 1,400,000; soybeans are 1,400,000 to 3,000,000. The report pegged corn at 1,836,000 million metric tons, which is better than traders’ estimate. The report showed soybeans at 1,730,000 million metric tons. This was within the pre-report range.

The Federal Reserve raised short-term rates yesterday by ¼ of a point. Traders were expecting to see ¼ to ½ point increase, so they were ready for that. The part that surprised many was the indication from the Fed that they will increase six more times this year.

The latest drought monitor continues to show dry conditions spreading into the western Corn Belt. At what point do traders start getting nervous about these dry condition in the U.S.?

Successful Farming

Tags: corn futures, soybeans, grain market, crude oil, livestock prices, wheat prices