By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
May corn closed down 3 cents and July corn was down 3 3/4 cents. May soybeans closed up 10 1/2 cents and July soybeans were up 10 1/4 cents. May KC wheat closed up 1/4 cents, May Chicago wheat was down 3 1/2 cents, May Minneapolis wheat was down 6 3/4 cents.
Corn futures continued their bearish momentum to close the week with May futures trading below $4.40 at one point for the first time since Feb. 25. Soybean futures were supported by a double-digit eruption in soybean meal futures, credited to long meal/short oil spreading to close the week. Wheat futures were mixed with Kansas City prices fractionally higher but Chicago futures lower following Thursday's bearish (and somewhat surprising) stocks increase in the April WASDE. In outside markets, crude oil futures traded marginally higher for a second straight session, with bullishness tempered ahead of weekend negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that only eight ships transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, and only those carrying Iranian cargo, which is surely to be a point of contention between the U.S. and Iran as ceasefire negotiations continue. Equity markets were lower after Friday's March Consumer Price Index reading came in hot at a 3.3% annual increase, the largest in two years and led of course by the shock to energy markets amid the onset of war in the Middle East.
LIVESTOCK:
Continuing to hold onto the hope that the fed cash cattle market will at least trade steady if not a tick higher, the live cattle contracts traded higher into Friday's closing bell. Currently there are a few bids on the table; $250 live being offered in Iowa and $385 dressed being offered in Nebraska, but otherwise the fed cash cattle market sits idle. Asking prices are noted at $392 to $395 in Nebraska and $250 live in Texas.
With more than enough support being noted in the cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts also were fully higher into Friday's close. Demand has been red hot in the countryside for calves that will be suitable to grass turn out in the next month, and that is adding another level of fundamental support to the marketplace.
Mostly lower tones continued to dominate the lean hog complex as the market yearns for greater fundamental support. And while pork cutout values may have been a tick higher today, traders seem to view the demand as coming a little too late in the week to really add much support.