(Cattle Network) – Corn futures followed wheat lower Sunday night. News of good rainfall over the southern Plains sank the wheat markets over the weekend, with the latest advance by the U.S. dollar also undercutting the commodity sector. One wonders if the wet weather will start raising concerns about late plantings in the near future. May corn futures sagged 2.25 cents to 3.7475/bushel early Monday morning, while December lost 2.25 to $4.0025.
The soy complex proved narrowly mixed over the weekend. Talk of growing South American supplies is weighing on the soybean and meal markets at this point, especially with the U.S. dollar raising the implicit cost of U.S. beans on the global market. Conversely, an overnight story emphasizing Chinese bean demand seemed to boost nearby beans. Meanwhile, crude and palm oil strength supported soy oil futures. May soybean futures inched up 0.5 cent to $9.52/bushel Sunday night, while May soyoil rose 0.08 cents to 31.17 cents/pound, and May meal skidded $0.4 to $308.8/ton.
Weekend rains washed out bullish wheat sentiment. Concerns about persistent southern Plains dryness have supported wheat futures lately, so the markets were probably vulnerable to the good rain that fell over the weekend. U.S. dollar strength and technical resistance probably encouraged selling, but intermediate-term moving averages may have limited overnight losses. May CBOT wheat fell 11.0 cents to $5.155/bushel in early Monday trading, while May KC wheat tumbled 13.25 cents to $5.455/bushel, and May MWE wheat dropped 10.25 to $5.7075.
Bearish cash expectations sent cattle futures tumbling Friday. Despite big spot market gains through March, the cattle/beef industry has clearly expected a decisive seasonal downturn. Thus, talk of a potential cash market drop later in the day sparked strong CME selling last Friday. Those presaged country losses of $5.00/cwt late Friday afternoon. That news, along with a dive in beef quotes, bodes ill for today’s opening. June cattle futures plunged 2.77 cents to 148.80 cents/pound in late Friday action, while August cattle dove 2.12 to 146.55 cents/pound. Meanwhile, May feeder cattle futures crashed 3.97 cents to 209.72 cents/pound, and August feeders plummeted 3.57 to 211.45.
Hog futures challenged technical resistance. In contrast to their counterparts in the cattle market, swine traders expect a sizeable seasonal rally through the second quarter. Thus, futures responded well to talk of cash strength Friday morning. Conversely, wholesale slippage likely limited gains, as did technical resistance around intermediate-term moving averages. Still, the size of Friday’s spot gains suggests a firm Monday opening. June hog futures rallied 1.35 cents to 78.15 cents/pound as Friday’s pit session ended, while December gained 0.65 to 68.25.
Cotton is testing technical support. After previously rallying strongly, cotton futures turned downward in the wake of last Thursday’s USDA reports. They continued Friday’s big slide overnight, with talk of overcommitted bullish speculators and U.S. dollar strength likely spurring additional selling. However, the fact that nearby May is apparently resting on short-term moving average support suggests the potential for a rebound. May cotton slid 0.18 cents to 64.88 cents/pound just after sunrise Monday, while December futures dipped 0.38 to 65.23.
