By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
December corn closed up 2 1/4 cents and March corn was up 2 cents. November soybeans closed down 1 1/4 cents and January soybeans were down 1 cent. December KC wheat closed up 7 1/4 cents, December Chicago wheat was up 3 1/2 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was up 2 cents.
Row-crop futures were mixed Tuesday with grains trading higher while soybean futures fell on the most recent escalation of the U.S.-China trade war as China hit U.S. subsidiaries of a South Korean shipbuilding company with sanctions. Data out from the Brazilian National Supply Company also served as a reminder to traders of record soybean supplies in Brazil and subsequently what have been record-setting exports as well that have sustained into the typical U.S. sales window due to the ongoing dispute with China. Outside markets were mixed with the U.S. dollar seemingly feeling for a momentary ceiling near 2-month highs which aided wheat markets Tuesday. Meanwhile, energy markets were lower on the China-U.S. shipping news but did manage to bounce off daily lows following a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell which hinted at a slowing of the 3-year effort by the Federal Reserve to reduce its asset holdings, a move which would work to effectively pressure interest rates and stimulate growth. Stock indices reversed from early losses following Powell's comments.
LIVESTOCK:
Although the live cattle complex started the day off weaker, the market turned its direction and traded fully higher into the closing bell as traders were pleased to see morning boxed beef prices higher again. Again today, the uptick in the futures complex has pushed most of the nearby contracts to new contract highs. Still no developments have surfaced in the fed cash cattle market, and it's likely that with feedlot managers able to push prices higher last week, they'll again try to advance the market and wait to trade any of their pens until late in the week.
Once again leading the charge, the feeder cattle complex traded fully higher into Tuesday's close, with a snappy $4.00 to $5.00 rally being the theme throughout the complex. With strong equity markets, cheap feed and incredible demand, it's been almost easy for the feeder cattle market to push the contracts higher as demand continues to be wildly strong.
The lean hog complex hasn't been as fortunate today as its contracts traded lower and are nearing support thresholds in the spot December contract. One would hope that the support plane around $82.00 would hold strong and not be broken through, but with demand being fickle in the hog sector right now, it's anyone's guess how low traders are going to send this thing. Yes, pork cutout values were up a bit this morning, but traders are going to need to see more than a midday report's worth of higher prices before they'll say that demand is truly shining through in the market.