DTN Early Word Grains

6:00 a.m. CME Globex:

May corn was down 1/2 cent, May soybeans were down 4 1/2 cents, and May Chicago wheat was up 1/2 cent.

CME Globex Recap:

In spite of a slight gain in wheat, all three grains remain under bearish pressure early Thursday with market weather factors still bearish and palm oil futures lower overnight. Thursday morning's export sales report holds extra interest for soybeans.

OUTSIDE MARKETS:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 6.71 points at 20,661.30. The NASDAQ Composite was up 27.81 points at 5,821.64 and the S&P 500 was up 4.43 points at 2,348.45 Wednesday. DJIA futures were down 5 point early Thursday morning. Asian markets were a little higher with Japan's Nikkei up 43.93 points (0.2%), Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 7.29 points (0.03%), and China's Shanghai Composite up 3.33 points (0.1%). European markets were also mixed Thursday with London's FTSE 100 down 13.65 points (-0.2%), Germany's DAX up 18.19 points (0.15%), and France's CAC 40 down 8.73 points (-0.2%). The U.S. dollar index was up 0.11 at 99.83 while the June euro was down 0.00270 at 1.08170. June 30-year T-Bonds were down 5/32nds at 150'20 while April gold was down $3.40 at $1,246.30. May crude oil was up $0.24 at $48.28 while Brent crude was up $0.40 at $51.04. Soybeans at the Dalian Exchange were steady to lower and Malaysian palm oil futures are down 2.2%.

	BULL		BEAR
1)	Corn demand continues to do well and U.S. corn remains attractively priced for more export business.	1)	Record corn and soybean production from South America is widely anticipated in early 2017.
2)	U.S. soybean prices are close enough to Brazil's prices that the U.S. continues to see moderate export business.	2)	U.S. wheat supplies remain at their highest in decades.
3)	So far, this year's crop ratings for winter wheat were lower than a year ago in the southwestern Plains, but there is rain in this week's forecast.	3)	Outside of dryness in the southwestern Plains, no significant weather threats are anticipated yet in 2017.

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MORE COMMODITY-SPECIFIC COMMENTS

CORN May corn is down 1/2 cent early Thursday after another night of narrow trading, but the path of prices remains steadily down so far in the month of March. Brazil's second corn crop will need cooperative rains in April at pollination time, but otherwise, crop conditions are considered generally favorable so far with light to moderate showers expected across central Brazil the next seven days. Here in the U.S., the week ahead expects beneficial rains throughout much of the central U.S. with the heaviest amounts expected over the dry areas of Missouri and Arkansas. May corn remains under bearish pressure, nearing its 2017 low of $3.57 1/2.

SOYBEANS May soybeans are down 4 1/2 cents early, influenced by a 2.0% overnight drop in palm oil futures which has May soybean oil down 0.27. While soybeans are still trading within the confines of last week's narrow range, prices continue to trend lower and are near their lowest levels in five months, largely weighed down by the advance of Brazil's record harvest. It remains odd that U.S. soybean prices are close to Brazil's prices while Brazil's harvest is happening and that adds extra interest to Thursday morning's weekly export sales report.

WHEAT May Chicago wheat is up 1/2 cent early, a quiet pause as prices approach their 2017 low of $4.16 1/4. Like corn, wheat prices have been sliding steadily lower in March, aided by this week's forecast for rain in the central and southern Plains. Shower activity may be light in the southwestern Plains the next few days, but another chance develops next week. Adding to wheat's bearishness in March, other wheat regions outside the U.S. are showing no significant weather problems at this time and that is keeping potential buyers on the sideline. With weather factors bearish and demand for U.S. wheat ho-hum, May Chicago wheat remains in a downtrend.

	DTN Cash	Change From	National	Contract	Change from
Commodity	Index	Prev Day	Avg. Basis	Month	Prev Day
Corn:	$3.19	-$0.02	-$0.39	May	$0.005
Soybeans:	$9.22	-$0.01	-$0.77	May	$0.005
SRW Wheat:	$3.80	-$0.04	-$0.42	May	$0.007
HRW Wheat:	$3.40	-$0.06	-$0.92	May	$0.002
HRS Wheat:	$4.96	$0.00	-$0.41	May	$0.000

Todd Hultmancan be reached at todd.hultman@dtn.com

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