By NATHAN STUEDLE
St. Joseph Post
GRAINS:
May corn closed up 7 1/4 cents and December corn was up 9 1/4 cents. May soybeans closed up 13 3/4 cents and November soybeans were up 20 3/4 cents. May KC wheat closed up 10 cents, May Chicago wheat was up 17 3/4 cents, May Minneapolis wheat was up 13 cents.
For the week:
May corn closed up 30 cents and July corn was up 29 3/4 cents. May soybeans closed up 65 3/4 cents and July soybeans were up 60 cents. May KC wheat closed up 10 1/2 cents, May Chicago wheat was up 26 3/4 cents and May Minneapolis wheat was up 30 1/2 cents.
Corn and soybean futures accomplished a rare flawless week in price action, trading higher each day, Monday through Friday. Meanwhile, wheat futures had only one blemish on their weekly performance -- Thursday's down session following a disappointing set of estimates in the WASDE report. Grain markets had appeared ready to stage a rally off March lows before the early April tariff concerns hit the market; and now that a 90-day pause on most countries is in effect, the pressure on prices has notably let up and grain markets again are willing to build premium into prices as we head deeper into a spring which has plenty of bullish arguments to fuel a rally. Outside markets on Friday were uncharacteristically quiet compared to recent sessions, as traders and investors now attempt to weigh the potential economic impact of the rapidly escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies in the U.S. and China. Stock indices are up slightly, meanwhile the bond market has caught the attention of Wall Street as the 10-year selloff has continued into the weekend, raising yields to their highest point in a month and a half on Friday. This is even more interesting in comparison with the U.S. dollar which traded Friday to a 3-year low, briefly breaking below 100 in early trading.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex is back to breathing somewhat normally as the market is traded higher. As you can see when you look at all the live cattle contracts, traders are just mildly supporting the nearby contracts as more trade chatter will affect those months more than the deferred contracts that traded $3 higher and more for the bulk of the session.
The feeder cattle complex was the leader of today's rally as its contracts were confidently trading $2.00 to $4.00 higher. The market is again up against its 40-day moving average which could pose some technical pressure moving forward.
Continuing to remain confident in the technical position it possesses, the lean hog contracts were yet again inching their way higher through the day. The market could face some pressure around the $94.00 mark, but it's not likely that traders take on that challenge ahead of Monday's open, even though pork cutout values are higher and offering some additional support.
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