DTN Closing Grain Comments

General Comments:

Corn closed down 1 1/4 cents in the May contract and down 1 1/2 cents in the December. Soybeans closed up 1/2 cent in the May and down 1 1/4 cents in the November. Wheat closed up 3/4 cent in the May Chicago, up 1 3/4 cents in the May Kansas City and down 3 1/2 cents in the May Minneapolis.

The June U.S. dollar index is up 0.58 at 101.15. June gold is up $1.60 at $1,254.90 while May silver is down $0.25 and May copper is down $0.0115. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 61 at 20,723. May crude oil is up $0.41 at $52.11. May heating oil is up $0.0116, May RBOB gasoline is up $0.0118, and May natural gas is down $0.072.

For the week:

May corn closed down 4 3/4 cents and December closed down 3 3/4 cents. May soybeans were down 4 cents while the November was down 4 1/2 cents. May Chicago wheat was down 2 1/2 cents, May Kansas City wheat was up 1 1/4 cents, and May Minneapolis wheat was down 16 cents.

Corn:

May corn ended down 1 1/4 cents Friday as grains generally showed little reaction to Thursday evening's news of U.S. missile strikes against Syria. May corn was down 4 3/4 cents on the week, taking back much of last Friday's gain in the wake of USDA's lower-than-expected 90 million acre planting estimate. While the estimate of corn acres remains up for debate, planting activity is likely to pick up next week with generally lighter rain amounts in the seven-day forecast for the southern U.S., except for Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Meanwhile, heavy rains in southern Brazil and Argentina may create problems for harvest, but prices are showing no concern this week. Technically, May corn remains in a downtrend but should have found support at last week's low of $3.54 1/4. DTN's National Corn Index closed at $3.23 Thursday, priced 37 cents below the May contract and up from its lowest price in 2017. In outside markets, the June U.S. dollar index is up 0.58 after the U.S. Labor Department said the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 4.7% to 4.5% in March. At the same time, U.S. non-farm payrolls were up 98,000 in March, much less than expected.

Soybeans:

May soybeans closed up a half-cent Friday on light volume, finishing the week with a 4-cent loss. After five straight lower weekly closes, the sell side of the market may be due for a breather, but Brazil's record harvest and the anticipation of record U.S. soybean acres is enough to keep prices under bearish pressure for a long time. It also does not help that USDA is apt to increase its estimate of Brazil's soybean crop in Tuesday's WASDE report. Dow Jones' survey expects the estimate to increase from 108.0 million metric tons to 110.0 mmt, but private estimates have already gone above 113.0 mmt. Heavy rains in the seven-day forecast for southern Brazil and Argentina may cause some crop loss, but prices are showing no concern yet. May soybeans remain in a downtrend with a bearish fundamental outlook. DTN's National Soybean Index closed at $8.66 Thursday, priced 75 cents below the May contract and near its lowest prices in a year.

Wheat:

May Chicago wheat closed up 3/4 cent Friday with a hint of commercial buying that goes along with last Friday's show of support. Last week's rains were good for winter wheat crops and offset much of the bullishness that might have come from USDA's record low planting estimate of 46.1 million acres in 2017. DTN's seven-day forecast is drier ahead but does have rain in store for Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. With no major problems currently reported in major winter wheat areas, wheat prices remain under bearish pressure. Technically, it is impressive that May Chicago wheat prices continue to hold above their 2017 low of $4.16 1/4, but the trend is sideways at best. DTN's National SRW index closed at $3.82 Thursday, priced 41 cents below the May contract and near its lowest price in three months. DTN's National HRW index closed at $3.29 and near its lowest price in three months.

Todd Hultman can be reached at todd.hultman@dtn.com

Follow Todd Hultman on Twitter @ToddHultman1

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