GRAINS:
May corn closed up 3 1/4 cents and July corn was up 1 1/4 cents. May soybeans closed down 4 1/2 cents and July soybeans were down 5 cents. May KC wheat closed down 11 1/2 cents, May Chicago wheat was down 1 1/2 cents, May Minneapolis wheat was down 1 3/4 cents.
It was yet another quiet session for corn and soybean markets as the latter drifted lower, but held above key long-term support for now. Corn futures were marginally higher on May futures while deferred prices relaxed ahead of new crop data from USDA at the end of the month, which is expected to show an increase in corn acreage for 2025. Meanwhile, wheat futures corrected Wednesday after prices appeared very top heavy late in Tuesday's trade. The move lower was led by hard red Kansas City futures as the spread between HRW and SRW prices relaxed Wednesday after surging higher for eight out of the past 10 sessions. U.S. stocks were higher as investors look forward to the conclusion of the Fed's March meeting Wednesday. The Federal Reserve again held its target rate steady in Wednesday's decision, but it is really Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments Wednesday afternoon that will be of interest to the market, especially in light of recent growth concerns and semi-cool February inflationary data. The current CME FedWatch tool is calling for June to be the next rate adjustment, signaling a 53% chance currently of a quarter point cut during that month's FOMC meeting.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex was lively as the market is excited to note the $6.02 jump in choice cuts, which has helped traders feel confident about their decision to push the spot June contract above the market's resistance at $201. There still hasn't been any cash cattle trade to speak of, but it's assumed that prices will trade steady if not higher later this week. Asking prices are noted at $205 in the South, but are still not known in the North.
Seeing the live cattle contracts trade higher has sparked even more enthusiasm throughout the feeder cattle complex as its contracts were comfortably trading higher into the closing bell. And with the spring season set to officially begin Thursday, buyer demand in the countryside has been even more aggressive this week than last week, as buyers know that supplies will run thin the closer time gets to turn out season.
The lean hog complex is traded noticeably lower as the market's resistance at $88.00 simply seems to be too much for traders to bear at this point. And yes, pork cutout values were slightly higher this morning, but before traders put much confidence in the market's higher cutout price, they're going to need to see a steady trend in higher cutout prices.
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