Corn: December corn rose 3 cents to $4.45 1/2, near mid-range and for the week up 4 cents. The corn futures market saw some short covering and perceived bargain buying today. However, gains in the grain markets have been limited by a surging U.S. dollar index that hit another 1.5-year high today.
Soybeans: January soybeans rose 12 1/2 cents to $12.31 1/2, near mid-range, hit a two-week high and for the week up 37 3/4 cents. December soybean meal rose $4.40 to $329.80, nearer the daily high, hit a two-week high and for the week up $10.60. December bean oil rose 35 points to 63.77 cents, near mid-range and for the week up 151 points. The soybean complex futures markets today saw short covering and technical buying featured as price action this week negated a price downtrend on the daily bar chart for beans and meal.
Wheat: December SRW wheat rose 9 cents to $5.93 1/4, near mid-range and hit a four-month low early on. For the week, December SRW was up 2 cents. December HRW wheat gained 6 1/2 cents to $6.28 3/4, near mid-range, hit a four-month low early on, and for the week down 3 3/4 cents. December spring wheat futures rose 4 cents to $6.26 3/4, near mid-range and for the week were up 10 3/4 cents. The winter wheat futures markets have been working to stabilize prices but have seen fleeting success.
Cotton: December cotton futures rose 11 points to 78.78 cents, nearer the daily low and for the week down 33 points. The cotton futures market paused for most of this week. Cotton traders will be looking to the grain futures markets for price direction in the near term.
Cattle: December live cattle futures rose $1.75 to $220.65, nearer the daily high and for the week up $6.60. January feeder cattle futures gained $3.675 to $335.35, nearer the daily high, hit a two-week high and for the week up $16.975. The cattle futures markets bulls had a good week, including producing technically bullish weekly high closes today, which suggest follow-through chart-based buying early next week. The cattle futures market bulls today overlooked light, lower cash cattle trade late this week.
Hogs: December lean hog futures rose $0.30 to $55.45, nearer the daily low and for the week up $1.925. December lean hog futures saw very modest short covering and perceived bargain buying from the speculators to end the trading week.
