Spot contracts of grains and oilseeds were painted red with losses on Thursday as seven-day weather forecasts looked more favorable in both the U.S. and in South America. April crude oil is also trading sharply lower, pressured by higher U.S. inventories and increased political tensions with Russia. Crude and outside markets seemed to be the biggest bearish factor on the day although we did see some technical faltering at the end of the day after corn and soy markets tried to hang in there. We’re really seeing a battle shape up between the fundamentals and technicals in this market moving forward.
Outside markets spilled over into live cattle, feeder cattle and hogs on the day as well. April hogs closed slightly higher but that was it. Honestly, a disappointing day in the livestock markets despite a strong export sales report for beef and pork along with a sharply higher pork cutout value and firming cash activity in feedlot country. Cattle on Feed report is out tomorrow and we’ll be watching closer to see if the livestock futures can rebound to wrap the week.
Farm and Ranch Director Jesse Allen has the closing markets: https://lightningstream.com/ajax/GetODFile.ashx?call=MIDWEST&fileid=1406
