(Cattle Network) – Technical selling may have exaggerated Thursday morning corn losses. The outstanding start for the 2015 U.S. corn crop clearly depressed CBOT futures this morning, despite another strong result on the weekly USDA Export Sales report. The fact that bulls couldn’t penetrate 10-day moving average resistance yesterday or today probably triggered aggressive technical selling as well. July corn futures fell 4.5 cents to $3.6225/bushel late Thursday morning, while December lost 4.25 to $3.7825.
The soy complex turned mostly lower. Soybean oil futures continued sliding in concert with the crude oil market this morning, which in turn seemed to weigh on soybeans. Meal proved surprisingly firm, thereby seeming to reflect the strong soy results on the Export Sales report. Wire service sources also reportedly cited surging planting rates for the bean weakness. July soybean futures slumped 7.25 cents to $9.7525/bushel around midsession Thursday, while July soyoil tumbled 0.32 cents to 32.60 cents/pound, and July meal slipped $0.6 to $313.6/ton.
Country conditions are apparently weighing on the wheat markets. The Wheat Quality Council’s annual wheat tour is wrapping up today, with anecdotal reports indicating improving crop potential as teams head for KC. That probably explains the winter wheat losses, whereas forecasts for widespread precipitation over the northern Plains appears to be undercutting Minneapolis quotes. July CBOT wheat futures dropped 4.0 cents to $4.7525/bushel as the lunch hour loomed Thursday, while July KC wheat sank 3.5 cents to $5.00/bushel, and July MWE wheat slid 5.25 to $5.335.
Cattle futures gave back Tuesday’s gains. Trader ideas that short-term beef buying might boost cattle prices apparently powered this week’s early rally, but late Tuesday news of declining beef cutouts ran counter to that narrative. Wednesday’s CME reversal wasn’t terribly surprising when seen in that light. Afternoon beef slippage from midday also suggested early Thursday weakness. June live cattle futures sank 1.22 cents to 150.22 at Wednesday’s CME close, while August cattle slumped 0.97 to 148.92. Meanwhile, May feeder cattle futures fell 0.87 cents to 214.50 cents/pound, and August feeders dove 1.37 to 216.87.
Rising spot prices continued powering the CME hog rally Wednesday. Cash hog and wholesale pork values built upon recent strength again yesterday, with seasonal demand strength and supply declines pointing to more of the same. Although spring-summer futures premiums look quite large, the market still seems deeply depressed by historical standards. Late-day reports suggest a strong Thursday open. June hog futures closed 1.30 cents higher at 84.05 cents/pound Wednesday, while December rallied 0.72 to 70.20.
Pragmatic considerations may be weighing on cotton futures. Most-active July cotton futures failed at 10-day moving average support Wednesday, thereby seeming to set the stage for follow-through losses. The fact that the equity markets fell significantly yesterday and seem likely open quite weakly again this morning may also have weighed upon fiber prices overnight. July cotton slumped 0.22 cents to 65.64 in early Thursday
trading, while December futures slid 0.17 to 65.60.
