(AgProfessional) – Dollar weakness seemed to boost the corn market Tuesday. Bearish corn traders couldn’t mount a serious test of the market’s 2015 lows this morning, which probably sparked a wave of pragmatic buying. Moreover, a disappointing U.S. Retail Sales report and an IMF downgrade of its U.S. growth forecast hit the dollar, which apparently spurred corn buying as well. May corn futures bounced 3.0 cents to 3.735/bushel as Tuesday’s CBOT trading ended, while December rose 3.0 to $3.99.
Talk of improved demand spurred buying in the soy complex. Although the concurrent corn rebound and U.S. dollar reversal probably encouraged bulls in the soy complex as well, wire service reports cited talk of improved demand for a portion of today’s gains. Having the crude oil market build on its overnight advance probably encouraged soyoil bulls. May soybean futures surged 11.5 cents to $9.6025/bushel in late Tuesday action, while May soyoil rallied 0.26 cents to 31.30 cents/pound, and May meal added $4.8 to $313.6/ton.
Wheat futures stabilized. Conflicting winter and spring wheat results on Monday’s Crop Progress report didn’t keep bears from selling those markets overnight, which likely reflected forecasts for another round of southern Plains rainfall during the days ahead. Still, one has to suspect today’s big dollar drop helped stabilize the wheat markets above mid-morning lows. May CBOT wheat closed 5.25 cents lower at $4.97/bushel Tuesday, while May KC wheat sank 7.25 cents to $5.2175/bushel, and May MWE wheat dropped 8.0 to $5.52.
Cattle futures rebounded strongly from technical support. After cattle futures dove sharply in anticipation of cash losses last Friday, they posted a modest Monday rebound after an opening test of 40-day moving average support. That seemingly set the stage for today’s resurgence, which probably the large cash premium and midday beef strength. June cattle futures leapt 1.47 cents to 150.42 cents/pound as the Chicago pit session ended, while August cattle jumped 1.15 to 147.97 cents/pound. Meanwhile, May feeder cattle futures climbed 0.75 cents to 210.80 cents/pound, and August feeders advanced 0.95 to 212.75.
Spot market slippage seemingly undercut CME hogs. Although the cash hog markets exhibited considerable strength late last week and again Monday, pork cutouts have moved sideways to lower. Both cash and wholesale prices were stated significantly lower at noon, which probably explains the Chicago hog market’s inability to build upon recent gains. June hog futures ended Tuesday having declined 0.30 cents to 78.47 cents/pound, while December rebounded 0.70 to 68.80.
Cotton futures proved surprisingly weak Tuesday. The USDA Crop Progress report stated cotton plantings well behind historical early-season norms, with rainy forecasts also pointing to persistent delays. The modest bullish futures response was probably encouraged by today’s U.S. dollar drop as well. Conversely, that made today’s ICE cotton breakdown that much more surprising. The reason behind the move wasn’t at all obvious. May cotton settled 0.44 cents lower at 64.69 cents/pound Tuesday, while December futures slumped 0.50 to 65.27.
