DTN's Quick Takes

Periodic Updates on the Grains, Livestock Futures Markets

Illustration by Nick Scalise

Grains

OMAHA (DTN) -- As we near the close, December corn is down 5 3/4 cents, November soybeans are up 8 cents, and December Chicago wheat is down 1/4 cent. Soybeans are holding on to modest gains while corn and wheat prices pull back lower. Two suspicious adjustments in Friday's report that may not stand the test of time are the 50-million-bushel reduction in the estimate of U.S. soybean exports and a 1-mmt increase in the estimate of Australia's wheat production. The U.S. dollar index is down 0.53, a small supportive feature for grain prices that is being overshadowed by USDA's report.

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Posted 11:47 -- December corn is down 1 3/4 cents, November soybeans are up 8 3/4 cents, and December Chicago wheat is up 5 1/2 cents. Soybeans turned higher after USDA estimated 2015 production at 3.89 billion bushels, close to expectations and drawing a sigh of relief that it wasn't more. USDA took 400,000 acres off of the harvested acres estimate for corn and 1.1 million acres of the estimate for soybeans. Yields were 168 for corn and 47.2 bushels an acre for soybeans.

Posted 09:44 -- December corn is down 1 1/4 cents, November soybeans are down 6 cents, and December Chicago wheat is down 2 1/2 cents. So much for Friday's higher boosts from the soybean sale to China and lower U.S. dollar. All three grains have turned lower in anticipation of Friday's estimates from USDA, due out at 11 a.m. CDT. Soybean bulls have the most reason to be nervous with high unofficial yield reports cited around the U.S.

Posted 08:39 -- After the 8:30 bell, December corn is down 3/4 cent, November soybeans are up 1 1/4 cents, and December Chicago wheat is down 1/4 cent. Most commodities are trading higher early, helped that the U.S. dollar index is down .40 in the aftermath of Thursday's minutes from the Fed. USDA announced that China bought 360,000 metric tons (13.2 mb) of U.S. soybeans for 2015-16, an aggressive purchase in front of USDA's October WASDE report, due out at 11 a.m. CDT.

Livestock

Posted 11:22 -- Triple-digit losses have redeveloped in nearby live cattle futures with traders trying to adjust positions in front of the weekend. Light to moderate gains are holding in feeder cattle and lean hog futures with the focus also on end-of-week position adjustments. Trade is expected to trickle into settlements, with the focus on potential cash market moves as well as the ability to draw additional investment interest back into the market next week. Markets are likely to remain sluggish Monday due to the Columbus Day holiday even though markets will remain open.

Posted 09:53 -- Triple-digit losses have been seen in live cattle futures Friday morning with the focus on lack of follow-through buying interest late in the week. Early interest in feeder cattle futures has quickly eroded, but the move lower at the end of the week is not creating major concerns of a major pullback at the end of the week. Lean hog futures on the other hand are showing moderate gains, although trade volume remains light during morning trade.

(KA)

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