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LTN’s Closing Grain Comments; A Quiet Day Ahead of USDA Report Friday

It was a quiet day in the grain complex ahead of Friday morning’s USDA reports. Wheat had another solid day while Corn and Beans drifted lower, the latter inching closer to initial support

Wheat futures faced pressure early in the session, but this gave way to bargain buying that propelled the market to a mostly firmer close. Chicago Wheat ended around 4 to 8 cents higher and Kansas City saw slightly lighter gains. Minneapolis Wheat ended narrowly mixed. Bulls had the advantage most of the day thanks to fresh signs global Wheat supplies are tightening.

Corn futures closed mostly 2 to 5 cents lower, which was near session lows. Quiet, pre-report trade was seen throughout today’s session as traders await USDA’s Crop Production and Supply & Demand Reports in the morning. Traders aren’t expecting any major changes, but also weren’t willing to add fresh positions ahead of the data.

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Soybean futures posted losses for the day and softened into the close to end roughly 4 to 11 cents lower for the day. Dollar strength and negative outside markets gave traders additional incentive to reduce risk ahead of what is expected to be a mildly Bearish USDA report Friday.

Lean Hog futures hit multi-month highs on light follow through buying Thursday, but most contracts settled off their highs with gains ranging from 5 to 27.5 cents. After strong gains Thursday, interest toward either side of the market was relatively subdued Thursday. While packers are enjoying strong cutting margins thanks to gains in the Pork cutout market and a cash Hog market that has trended steady to lower, traders are uncertain how pork demand will fare as retailers shift to featuring Turkey for the Holiday.

Live Cattle futures were choppy for much of the day, but firmed late to end mostly 12.5 to 50 cents higher and near session highs. Neither Bulls nor Bears were eager to aggressively add positions today as traders wait on cash Cattle trade to develop. Mild support came late in the session after packers raised cash Cattle bids to $125 in the Plains.