At the close:
The March corn futures contract closed 4 cents lower at $4.24. The March soybean futures contract closed 1 1/2 cents higher at $13.16. March wheat futures ended 9 1/4 cents lower at $5.63 per bushel. The March soymeal futures contract finished $2.50 per short ton higher at $434.50. The March soyoil futures settled $0.31 lower at $37.74.
In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil is $0.61 per barrel higher, the dollar is higher and the Dow Jones Industrials are 27 points higher.
Mike
---------
At mid-session:
The March corn futures contract is trading 4 3/4 cents lower at $4.23. The March soybean futures contract is trading 2 1/4 cents lower at $13.12. March wheat futures are 7 cents lower at $5.65 per bushel. The March soymeal futures contract is trading $0.70 per short ton lower at $431.30. The March soyoil futures are trading $0.23 lower at $37.82.
In the outside markets, the NYMEX crude oil is $0.45 per barrel higher, the dollar is higher and the Dow Jones Industrials are 63 points higher.
Mike North, Senior Risk Advisor for First Capitol Ag, says that the soybean market is the market everyone is watching. "Recent technical resistance was met at $13.30 in the March contract. And $13.00 serves as psychological support. Expect trade to battle back-and-forth between those two levels. Corn is quietly walking through the same range that confined it prior to the Jan USDA report. Winter markets can often be like this," he says.
Yet another broker is saying, "Well, we saw some cash movement in beans yesterday that weakened spreads and pushed the futures in beans to the mixed close. Today, we saw some selling based on reports of weaker cash in Brazil, but now we are trying to creep up. Been pretty quiet. I had lots of farm selling interest here yesterday in beans but not much at all today. Corn and wheat are lower but quiet for me today. Farmers sold a lot of corn early in the week but seem quiet now. Some spec buying showing up in the march corn near 420. I think corn is a range trade for the moment. I think farmers are moving high moisture corn on rallies but will not chase the market as these prices do not really pencil for them. Wheat is weird, I expected better as it is supposed to be cold again next week. Not like early in the month but cold enough. No snow cover in the southern Midwest at the moment or in a lot of the central and southern great plains. So, the cold temperatures could do more damage than the first shot even if the cold is not so severe. So not understanding the selling over there real well."
Mike
--------
At 10:40am:
Informa Updates 2014 U.S. Acreage Estimates:
Corn= 93.319 million vs. 95.3 million last year
Soybeans= 81.264 million vs. 76.53 million in 2013.
A) Do you care
B) Too large of numbers
C) Too small of numbers
D) About right
Choose one, if you will. Thanks.
Mike
--------
At 8:50am:
Informa is expected to update its 2014 U.S. acreage estimates Friday. I'll post the numbers, when I see them. Or, if somebody else catches them, please post. I've heard that they are expected to be bearish.
Mike
--------------
At the open:
The March corn futures contract is trading 2 1/2 cents lower at $4.25. The March soybean futures contract is trading 7 cents lower at $13.07. March wheat futures are 3 cents lower at $5.69 per bushel. The March soymeal futures contract is trading $2.70 per short ton lower at $429.30. The March soyoil futures are trading $0.23 lower at $37.82.
In the outside markets, the Brent crude oil is $0.85 per barrel higher, the dollar is higher and the Dow Jones Industrials are 85 points higher.
Mike
---------------
At 8am:
--USDA announces Friday that Egypt bought 204,000 tons of U.S. corn for 2013-14.
--Yesterday, Egypt bought 60,000 tons of U.S. wheat in a total purchase of 295,000 tons of various origins.
--Argentina soybean acreage estimate has been dropped slightly to 50.3 million acres. Planting is nearing completion. Corn planting is estimated at 3% complete.
Mike
-----------
At 5:35am
Early calls: Corn is seen 2-4 cents lower, soybeans 6-8 cents lower, and wheat 1-2 cents lower.
Trackers:
Overnight grain, soybean markets=Trading lower.
Brent Crude Oil=$0.27 per barrel higher.
Dollar=Higher.
Wall Street=Seen lower.
World Markets=Asia/Pacific stocks were lower, Europe stocks higher.
More in a minute,
Mike
