By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
December corn closed down 7 1/4 cents and July contracts of all three U.S. wheats finished lower Friday, showing signs of losing support as we head to June. November soybeans were down 4 cents, but July soybean oil closed up 1.02 cents Friday, the July contract's highest close in over three years at a time when U.S. diesel inventory remains scarce.
July corn closed down 9 cents and December corn was down 7 1/4 cents. July soybeans closed down 7 3/4 cents and November soybeans were down 4 cents. July KC wheat closed down 15 1/2 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 13 1/2 cents and July Minneapolis wheat was down 13 3/4 cents.
FOR THE WEEK:
July corn closed down 16 1/2 cents and December corn was down 11 1/2 cents. July soybeans closed down 9 3/4 cents and November soybeans were up 2 1/4 cents. July KC wheat closed down 32 1/4 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 35 3/4 cents and July Minneapolis wheat was down 26 cents.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex continued to scale lower as the market simply isn't seeing the level of fundamental support it needs. With the attitude around the cash market seeming as though prices are going to be lower this week -- and with midday boxed beef prices lower -- traders did not have enough fundamental support to justify advancing the contracts. Some light cash cattle trade is being reported in Texas at $256, which is $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average. A few more bids are now being offered, but no more sales have been confirmed. Asking prices are noted in Nebraska at $410 but are not identified in the South.
Upon seeing the live cattle contracts drift lower, the feeder cattle contracts didn't even attempt to trade higher and were also lower heading into Friday's closing bell. A lower tone is likely to remain the market's theme through Friday and into Monday, as fundamental support simply isn't surfacing.
The lean hog contracts were also trading lower into Friday's close as traders are merely wiping their hands of the market ahead of the weekend. Yes, midday pork cutout values were a tick higher -- but at this point it's too little support showing up too late in the week to make a difference.