By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
July corn closed down 1 3/4 cents and December corn was up 3/4 cents. July soybeans closed up 10 3/4 cents and November soybeans were up 11 3/4 cents. July KC wheat closed down 6 1/4 cents, July Chicago wheat was up 6 1/4 cents, July Minneapolis wheat was down 3 3/4 cents.
Tuesday was a quiet session in terms of row-crop news with soybeans once again leading recovery efforts with an impressive reversal off early lows, despite soybean oil futures dropping alongside outside energy markets. Details continue to emerge regarding the deal to end the conflict in the Middle East with the Wall Street Journal reporting on Tuesday that Iran will be offered some sanction relief to sell oil conditional on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. WTI crude futures fell below $76 per barrel on Tuesday, the lowest price since the first week of the war. In other macro news, investors will focus on the FOMC meeting this week, the first with new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. CME's FedWatch tool puts the odds at a near certainty of the Fed holding interest rates steady in the meeting.
LIVESTOCK:
It was a glorious day for the live cattle contracts as not only the futures traded higher, the market is rallying aggressively above its 40-day moving average, which has been a challenging threshold over the last three weeks. Consequently, Tuesday's rally only puts the market $1.00 away from the all-time high scored back in April. No cash cattle trade has developed yet and no bids or asking prices have surfaced at this point.
Upon seeing the live cattle contracts rally anywhere from $3.00 to $4.00 higher -- dare I say it's been almost easy for the feeder cattle contracts to push a $5.00 to $6.00 rally into Tuesday's close? With the help of strong support from the outside equity markets, this rally is likely going to hold at least through Tuesday's end, if not longer.
The lean hog contracts traded mixed, at best, into Tuesday's closing bell, as the external support of strong equity markets and the lower prices of oil are helping improve the mood of the complex; but traders still want to see better fundamental demand.