DTN Before The Bell Grain Comments

By Darin Newsom
DTN Senior Analyst

Morning CME Globex Update:

Early Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin reiterated his thoughts from Wednesday that the U.S. administration is not concerned about the weakening U.S. dollar, but instead view it as a positive for exports and the U.S. economy. Grains responded by extending overnight gains through Thursday morning. DJIA futures were posting triple-digit gains, hinting at an explosive open by the Big Board.

Other Markets:

DJIA futures	Higher
U.S. Dollar Index:	Lower
Gold:	Higher
Crude Oil:	Higher

Corn:

Corn continued its climb overnight and through Thursday morning with contracts finishing near session highs. Support continues to come from the weaker dollar and technical signals showing secondary (intermediate-term) uptrends are strengthening. Fundamentally analysts continue to chatter about Argentine weather, though old-crop futures spreads remain bearish.

Soybeans:

Soybeans posted a solid rally over the course of Thursday morning with both old-crop and new-crop contracts establishing new session highs. This took March beyond next resistance at $9.95 1/2 and November above its next target of $10.10 (DTN Strategy subscribers, be sure to look for updates). Futures spreads were flat indicating much of the buying continues to come from noncommercial traders and likely due to the weaker U.S. dollar and stronger Brazilian real.

Wheat:

The wheat complex was also higher early Thursday, like everything else supported by the ongoing downtrend in the U.S. dollar index. Additional buying interest in new-crop winter wheat continues to come from weather forecasts calling for warmer temperatures, no precipitation, and strong winds across much of the U.S. Southern Plains HRW growing area.

Darin Newsom can be reached at darin.newsom@dtn.com

FollowDarin on Twitter @DarinNewsom

(BAS)

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