By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
December corn closed up 1 1/4 cents and March corn was up 1/4 cents. January soybeans closed up 7 1/2 cents and March soybeans were up 8 cents. December KC wheat closed up 11 1/2 cents, December Chicago wheat was up 9 3/4 cents, December Minneapolis wheat was up 2 1/2 cents.
For the Week:
December corn closed up 8 1/4 cents and March corn was up 7 cents. January soybeans closed up 55 cents and March soybeans were up 50 1/4 cents. December KC wheat closed up 23 cents, December Chicago wheat was up 21 1/2 cents and December Minneapolis wheat was down 4 cents.
Corn, soy, and wheat markets bounced around Friday, trading on both sides of even in what was for the most part a chance for traders to catch their breath following a volatile week leading up to Wednesday evening's meeting between President Trump and President Xi of China. It wasn't surprising on a holiday Friday to see volume way down and a somewhat aimless trade as a result; but eventually prices did catch and hold some steam into the close for a strong finish to the week. It was none other than the soybean meal market that led the turn higher with conviction, offering some late-session strength to the soybean complex, despite earlier lower soy oil futures as traders continue to push the long meal, short oil spread to the lowest spread per pound since mid-June. Meanwhile, outside markets were fairly quiet as well, with the U.S. dollar notably reaching 3-month highs, which may serve as a headwind to export sensitive ag futures if the currency can break above resistance near 100 on the index.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex was traded lower into Friday's closing bell as the market has exhausted the mild support it found midweek. With no positive notes developing from the fed cash cattle market, or sharply higher boxed beef prices, traders are remaining cautious players in the cattle complex as there's been so much volatility over the last two weeks. No more trade has developed in the fed cash cattle market, but traders will need to secure more supply this afternoon to avoid being short bought heading into next week. Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $358 to $360, which is $9.00 to $11.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average, and although only a handful of cattle have traded in the South, Southern live cattle have been marked at mostly $235, which is $3.00 to $4.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average.
Following right in line with the live cattle market's trend Friday morning, feeder cattle contracts traded mostly lower into the close. Although feeder cattle aren't trading as sharply lower in the countryside as they were late last week and even earlier this week, the market continues to see cattle trading cheaper as a tremendous amount of confidence has been stripped from the marketplace. Although buyers know that supplies are thin, they were keenly reminded the last two weeks that regardless of whatever the market's fundamentals are volatility will always be a big player in the cattle complex.
After having trailed lower throughout most of the week, the lean hog complex has finally stumbled into some mild technical support as the contracts traded mixed into Friday's close. Yes, pork cutout values were up a tick Friday morning, which traders could be mindful of; but more than anything ahead of today's close traders seemed to be acknowledging the sharp decline the market has made this week and are letting the contracts find a little support ahead of the week's end.