By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAIN MARKET SUMMARY
Grain futures finished mostly lower Thursday, with corn and wheat under pressure while soybeans spent the session hovering near unchanged.
Corn futures ended about 3 to 4 cents lower. The market faced harvest pressure as combines continue moving into the crop, while weaker crude oil also provided little outside-market support. December corn had been down more than 5 cents during the session before trimming some of those losses into the close.
Soybeans were the strongest of the major grains, with contracts finishing from about three-quarters of a cent lower to a half-cent higher. Soybean meal remained the standout in the complex, extending its rally to better than two-year highs and helping keep beans near unchanged despite weakness elsewhere in the grain markets.
Wheat finished 3 to 5 cents lower, also recovering from considerably larger losses earlier in the day. Wheat opened under heavier selling pressure before buyers returned as the session progressed.
So Thursday's grain trade was generally defensive, but well off the session lows — corn and wheat closed moderately lower, while soybeans essentially finished flat.
LIVESTOCK MARKET SUMMARY
The cattle market got hammered again Thursday, extending what has become a brutal three-day reversal.
Live cattle futures finished roughly $3 to $4 lower, while feeder cattle dropped another $4 to $5.
The selling comes as traders remain cautious ahead of Friday's USDA Cattle on Feed report and as cash cattle trade develops. Light dressed business was reported Thursday around $350 in the North, roughly steady with last week's weighted average, giving futures little reason to expect a major cash-market advance.
Cattle futures were already under pressure coming into Thursday after breaking below their recent uptrend Wednesday. Traders have also been digesting plans to reopen the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, port to Mexican cattle imports next week, while softer boxed-beef values have added pressure.
And the size of this week's swings has been remarkable. Feeders rallied roughly $4 to nearly $6 Monday, fell $3 to $4 Tuesday, dropped another $4 to $6 Wednesday, and now lost another $4 to $5 Thursday.