By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
December corn closed down 3 3/4 cents and March corn was down 3 cents. January soybeans closed up 13 1/4 cents and March soybeans were up 10 1/2 cents. December KC wheat closed down 9 3/4 cents, December Chicago wheat was down 8 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was down 10 cents.
Well for those expecting volatility in the hours immediately following the long-anticipated meeting between President Trump and President Xi in South Korea late Wednesday, the overnight trade in the soybean market certainly fit that bill. January futures traded down as much as 24 cents as details were slow to emerge before the early morning hours when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out the plans for soybean exports to China, discussed in detail below. For Thursday, grain markets may have been feeling a bit left out from the spotlight, falling from technical resistance on a lack of upward momentum. Outside markets for Thursday responded mostly positively to the details that have thus far emerged from the Trump/Xi meeting, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average reversing from Wednesday's late-session losses. The U.S. dollar also extended its rally back toward three month highs, which may have played a role in a sharp correction in wheat markets.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex did trade higher for a portion of the session as traders simply remained pleased to have a quiet, uneventful day in the marketplace, but managed to only finished on a mixed basis. After plummeting lower the last week and a half, it's refreshing for the market to have a slightly bullish, no-headline, non-earth-shattering type of day -- just quiet and subtle trading. Bids are on the table in both Nebraska and Kansas, but following the trade earlier this week, no more business has developed. Asking prices are noted in the South at $238 to $240. Earlier this week Northern dressed cattle sold for $360, which is $9.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average.
The feeder cattle complex also traded higher for some of the session, as the market remains relieved to have heard on Wednesday that the U.S/Mexico border isn't likely going to reopen any time soon to Mexican cattle imports. This was the silver lining after a week and a half of downward trading that the market desperately needed to hear to help push prices back higher. Thankfully, the market is now trading above its 100-day moving average in the spot November contract, which is a slow start to some hopeful recovery.
The lean hog complex once again traded lower as no significant fundamental improvements have surfaced. Until consumer support rounds the corner and shows more demand, the market will likely continue to trade in this sideways doggish manner.