By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAIN MARKET SUMMARY
Grain futures staged a significant recovery Friday after opening under heavy pressure, with corn and soybeans climbing back to finish near unchanged while wheat remained lower.
December corn settled ¾ of a cent higher at $5.28¼ after trading as much as about a dime lower earlier in the session. A weaker U.S. dollar helped the market recover, while traders also positioned ahead of next week’s USDA quarterly Grain Stocks report.
Soybeans followed a similar pattern. November futures finished 1½ cents higher at $13.19 after being sharply lower overnight. December soybean meal slipped $1.40 to $371 a ton, while soybean oil moved higher. The rebound in beans came after U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. and China had reached agreements covering a subset of non-sensitive goods that could receive more favorable trade terms.
Wheat remained the weakest part of the grain complex. December Chicago wheat fell 3¾ cents to $7.03¼, while December Kansas City wheat lost 5 cents to $7.62. Both markets recovered well off their lows, but technical pressure and long liquidation continued to weigh on prices.
Overall, Friday’s grain session was defined by a major intraday recovery: corn and soybeans erased steep early losses, while wheat still finished moderately lower.
LIVESTOCK MARKET SUMMARY
Livestock futures finished mixed Friday, with feeder cattle sharply higher while live cattle were mostly steady to modestly higher across much of the board.
October live cattle settled 20 cents lower at $218.875, while other live cattle contracts finished from about $1 to $1.42 higher. Cash trade running slightly below the previous week limited buying interest in the nearby contract.
Feeder cattle were much stronger. November feeders jumped $3.90 to $331.975, with most feeder contracts finishing roughly $2.50 to nearly $4 higher. Technical buying helped drive the rally, capping an exceptionally volatile week that saw large swings in both directions.
Lean hogs finished lower, with October hogs down 97½ cents to $78.225 as the market remained under technical selling pressure.
The Friday livestock story was straightforward: live cattle finished mixed but generally firmer in deferred contracts, while feeder cattle ended the week with another strong rally and a bullish weekly close.