At the close:
At the close, the March corn futures finished 1/2¢ higher at $3.67 3/4. May futures ended 3/4¢ higher at $3.75. March soybean futures closed 7¢ higher at $10.24 1/2. May soybean futures settled 7 1/4¢ higher at $10.35. March wheat futures ended 6¢ higher at $4.61 3/4. March soy meal futures finished $3.80 per short ton higher at $373.70. January soy oil futures closed 0.11 lower at 31.90¢ per pound. In the outside markets, the NYMEX crude oil market is $0.88 higher, the U.S. dollar is lower, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 223 points higher.
Mike
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At 8:15am:
USDA Weekly Export Sales Report released Thursday shows strong corn sales:
Wheat= 421,900 mt. vs. the trade’s estimate of between 275,000-425,000 metric tons,
Corn= 2.06 million mt. vs. the trade’s estimate of between 1,000,000-2,000,000 metric tons,
Soybeans= 837,500 mt. vs. the trade’s estimate of between 200,000-1,100,000 metric tons
Soybean meal= 210,000 mt. vs. the trade’s estimate of between150,000-450,000 metric tons.
Mike
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Soybeans and grains were little changed as investors aren't sure whether prices have room to run higher. The weather is dismal in Argentina and the US southern Plains where it's dry, dry and dry. But export sales have been iffy -- they're due out at 830am in Washington today -- so it'll be interesting to see if they can perhaps top expectations thanks to the weaker dollar. Beans, corn and Chicago wheat all moved less than a penny overnight while Kansas City wheat rose 1.5 cents due to the drought in the southern Plains. In other news, ethanol production fell to the lowest since early January while stockpiles dropped to a four-week low. That's mixed news for corn producers. It's going to be extremely foggy this morning in the central Plains, making any driving ill-advised, and it remains dry in hard-red winter wheat country, as it has been for months. Get all the details in today's 3 Big Things at https://www.agriculture.com/news/three-big-things/3-big-things-today-february-15.
Brent Crude Oil = down 0.7%.
West Texas Intermediate = down 0.2%.
Dollar = down 0.4%
Wall Street = U.S. stock futures higher in pre-market trading.
World Markets = Global stocks higher overnight.
