On Friday, the CME Group’s farm markets diverge.
At the close, the March corn futures settled 2¼¢ lower at $5.38. May corn futures ended 3¼¢ lower at $5.36½. New-crop December corn futures closed 3¾¢ lower at $4.48¾.
March soybean futures finished 4½¢ higher at $13.72. May soybean futures closed 4½¢ higher at $13.71. New-crop November futures closed 1¼¢ lower at $11.73.
March wheat futures closed 3¼¢ higher at $6.36½.
March soymeal futures settled $1.70 short term lower at $427.20.
March soy oil futures closed 0.41 higher at 46.07¢ per pound.
In the outside markets, the NYMEX crude oil market is $1.29 per barrel higher (+2.21%) at $59.53. The U.S. dollar is higher, and the Dow Jones Industrials are 61 points lower (-0.19%) at 31,369 points.
On Friday, private exporters reported to the USDA the following activity:
- Export sales of 195,338 metric tons of corn for delivery to Costa Rica. Of the total, 135,644 metric tons is for delivery during the 2020/2021 marketing year and 59,694 metric tons is for delivery during the 2021/2022 marketing year.
- Export sales of 115,577 metric tons of corn for delivery to Guatemala during the 2020/2021 marketing year.
The marketing year for corn began Sept. 1.
Bob Linneman, Kluis Advisors, says that investors will position ahead of the long holiday weekend.
“The bulls will want to post a higher high today and end the week on a high note in preparation for the holiday-shortened trading week next week. The U.S. dollar has pulled back from the quick pop to 91.60 last week. If the dollar bulls step in and resume the uptrend, then the first upside target is near 90.77. In general, grain exports should not be greatly impacted by the dollar if it remains under 93,” Linneman stated in a daily note to customers.
Linneman added, “The Chinese Lunar New Year is underway. Many traders expect that any new export sales announcements next week will not involve China. The bull spreads appear to have found support. They are bouncing in tandem with the outright futures. This is a good sign for the bull camp over the short-term.”
