By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
September corn closed up 9 1/4 cents and December corn was up 9 1/2 cents. August soybeans closed up 13 1/2 cents and November soybeans were up 16 1/4 cents. September KC wheat closed up 30 1/2 cents, September Chicago wheat was up 27 3/4 cents, September Minneapolis wheat was up 24 3/4 cents.
Wednesday was a bullish session across the board for row-crop futures with buying seen across all major commodities (and a new round of contract highs for several), influenced by a concerning weather outlook for the U.S. Grain Belt through the first days of August, as well as a continued rise in outside energy futures with crude oil higher now in seven of the past eight sessions. There is little sign of de-escalation of either of the ongoing wars, which is providing a growing layer of risk premium to markets through the July rally as well.
LIVESTOCK:
Knowing later this week both the monthly Cattle on Feed and bi-annual Cattle Inventory report will be shared, traders simply aren't willing to advance the live cattle contracts with little to no fundamental support ahead of those big hitting reports being released. Some light packer interest has been noted in the fed cash cattle market as bids of $228 in Kansas have surfaced, along with bids of $230 live and $365 dressed in Nebraska. A thin movement of cattle has been noted in Iowa at $232 live and $375 dressed, but otherwise the market sits idle as feedlot managers hope demand and prices will improve. By no means has a weekly trend been established yet in the marketplace.
Upon seeing the live cattle contracts trading lower, it came as no surprise to anyone that the feeder cattle contracts moved lower as well. Unless the live cattle contracts turn higher (which is highly unlikely) it's most likely the feeder cattle contracts will keep with this decline into Thursday's open.
Meanwhile, while the cattle complex continues to struggle, the lean hog complex keeps with its own rallying trend as traders are hopeful demand will prevail. With added support from the cash market, it's likely the complex will keep rallying through Wednesday afternoon.