DTN Closing Grain Comments

By Darin Newsom
DTN Senior Analyst

General Comments:

December corn was 1 3/4 cents higher at $3.50 with March 1 3/4 cents higher at $3.62 1/2. November soybeans finished 4 1/2 cents higher at $9.70 with January up 4 1/2 cents at $9.80 1/2. December Chicago wheat closed 6 3/4 cents higher at $4.49 3/4, December Kansas City gained 6 cents to $4.48, and December Minneapolis added 5 cents to close at $6.22 1/4. The U.S. dollar index was 0.63 higher at 92.47 following the Fed's announcement, while December 30-year T-bonds lost 13/32 to 153'23. December gold was $2.60 lower at $1,308.00 after the Fed's announcement while December silver was $0.024 lower and December copper dipped $0.0035. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 4 points to 22,366. October crude oil added $1.01 to $50.49 as it prepared to go off the board. The October distillates (heating oil) contract was $0.0342 higher, October RBOB gasoline rallied $0.0020, and September natural gas fell $0.020.

Corn:

Corn did little over the course of Wednesday's session with daily volume for the December issue coming in at 102,116 contracts. A general decrease in daily trade activity continues to be seen. Fundamentally, there was little fresh news to provide direction, though early spillover buying from soybeans helped pull corn contracts to new session highs. That didn't last, allowing the corn market to slide back to prices near where the overnight session ending earlier in the day.

Soybeans:

The soybean market posted a stronger early rally of 8 1/2 cents after USDA announced sales of 132,000 metric tons (2017-18) to China and 960,000 mt (2017-18) and 120,000 mt (2018-19) to unknown Wednesday morning. However, follow-through buying didn’t emerge allowing contracts to drift back through the rest of the session. By the end of the day futures spreads were flat, indicating commercial interests had moved back to the sidelines. Given the late momentum it would not be surprising to see soybeans under pressure early in the overnight session.

Wheat:

Winter wheat markets closed higher Wednesday, buoyed by renewed commercial buying in Chicago (SRW). There the December contract gained a penny back against the March, after losing more than that the first two days of this week. Despite the spread adjustments being made, the market's long-term commercial view remains bearish. Still, late buying momentum could take the market higher overnight and possibly back above old resistance near $4.50. Wednesday's high for December Chicago was $4.52.

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

Follow Darin Newsom on Twitter @DarinNewsom

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