Corn Futures Lower at Midday Monday; Soybeans Higher; Wheat Flat-Higher

MARKET SUMMARY:

Corn futures are 1 to 2 cents lower at midday Monday; soybean futures are 9 to 10 cents higher; wheat futures flat to 1 cent higher. The U.S. stock market is firmer at midday with the S&P up 65. The U.S. Dollar Index is 4 points higher. The interest rate products are mixed. Energy trade is mixed with crude off .40 and natural gas is up .28. Livestock trade is mostly higher with cattle stabilizing after the Friday washout. Precious metals are sharply higher with gold up 155.00, after scoring fresh highs again this morning.

CORN:

Corn futures are 1 to 2 cents lower at midday in quiet trade with harvest to continue pushing forward with little other fresh news and softer spread action to start the week. Ethanol margins look to remain stable with unleaded values continuing to limit blender margins. Harvest should be well past the halfway point nationally. Fresh export sales remain unreported with the government shutdown, although a strong pace remains expected. Weekly export inspections were solid at 1.318 million metric tons (mmt), with year-to-date pace at 160%. On the December chart support is the 20-day moving average at $4.18, which we cleared last week, with the summer gap still above the market at $4.33.

SOYBEANS:

Soybean futures are 9 to 10 cents higher at midday with trade back to the upper end of the fall range with meal leading the product complex. Meal is 2.00 to 3.00 higher and oil is 15 to 25 points higher. Harvest should make good additional progress this week we start to get toward the last quarter of acres in all likelihood. South American weather looks to be a nonissue in the short-term as planting moves forward at a good pace. Weekly export inspections improved sharply to 1.474 mmt, but we remain at 70% on year-to-date pace. On the November chart, resistance is the Upper Bollinger Band at $10.33, which we tested overnight, with the 20-day moving average at $10.14.

WHEAT:

Wheat futures are flat to 1 cent higher with sideways action holding at the lower end of the range with little other fresh news to drive action either way. Weather should remain mostly favorable for the Plains in the short-term with warmer-than-normal temps continuing. MATIF wheat is soft to start the week. Weekly export inspections improved a little bit to 480,614 metric tons, with year-to-date pace holding at 120%. Southern Hemisphere wheat continues to develop well. On the KC December chart, support is at the daily low of $4.77 1/2 with resistance the 20-day moving average at $4.95.  

David Fiala can be reached at dfiala@futuresone.com

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