By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
July corn closed down 11 3/4 cents and December corn was down 10 1/4 cents. July soybeans closed down 15 1/2 cents and November soybeans were down 12 3/4 cents. July KC wheat closed down 17 1/4 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 22 1/4 cents, July Minneapolis wheat was down 17 1/4 cents.
Despite little explicitly bearish news emerging from President Trump's visit to China, now that the event has come and passed traders are taking the opportunity to secure profits on the past month's rallies in corn, soy, and wheat futures. A decision which is likely supported by a friendly weather outlook through the balance of May. For Friday, the bearish swing in momentum remained in effect for row crops, and firm energy futures amid the ongoing standoff in the Persian Gulf offered little support. Along those lines, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to its highest mark in almost a year to close the week and inflation fears have ramped up after hot CPI and PPI readings earlier this week.
LIVESTOCK:
It was another back-and-forth trading day for the live cattle complex as the contracts finished $1 to $2 higher heading into Friday's closing bell, as traders have backed the contracts away from resistance and aren't concerned about that pressure cropping up in the immediate future. No new trade has developed in the cash cattle market and it's looking like the bulk of this week's trade is essentially done. So far this week, Northern dressed cattle have traded from mostly $410 to $415, which is $7.00 to $12.00 higher than last week's weighted average, and Southern live cattle have traded at mostly $260 to $263, which is $3.00 to $5.00 higher than last week's weighted average. Again today, do note that select prices are higher than choice cuts as supplies of lean beef remains extremely thin.
Upon seeing the live cattle contracts trade in a slightly stronger manner, the feeder cattle contracts were also trading modestly higher into Friday's closing bell. So long as the live cattle contracts continue to scale higher, the feeder cattle complex will likely do the same.
Even though pork cutout values were mildly higher, the lean hog contracts still can't seem to gain substantial momentum. It's unlikely anything is going to change the direction of the lean hog complex ahead of Friday's close and into early on Monday.