Friday's Closing Grain And Livestock Futures Prices.
Jul. corn closed at $4.65 and 3/4, down 3 and 3/4 cents
Jul. soybeans closed at $14.93 and 1/4, down 5 and 3/4 cents
Jul. soybean meal closed at $500.20, up $1.80
Jul. soybean oil closed at 38.50, down 91 points
Jul. wheat closed at $6.27 and 1/4, down 5 and 1/4 cents
Jun. live cattle closed at $137.80, down 22 cents
Jun. lean hogs closed at $113.35, down 95 cents
Jul. crude oil closed at $102.71, down 87 cents
Jul. cotton closed at 86.27, up 12 points
Jun. Class III milk closed at $20.83, up 25 cents
Jun. gold closed at $1,245.60, down $10.70
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,717.17, up 18.43 points
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Today's Agri Commodity Market News ReCap
It was a quiet day in the markets with traders squaring positions before the weekend and watching the weather across the grain growing regions.
Soybeans were lower on profit taking and technical selling. Weekly export numbers were bullish, reflecting the continued strong demand, and the supply remains tight. Still, the trade expects a big domestic crop and contracts are overbought. Soybean meal was mixed on the good near term demand outlook and soybean oil was lower, following beans.
Corn was lower on fund and technical selling. The pit’s looking at generally good growing weather around the U.S., with warm temperatures and mostly scattered rainfall. The weekly export numbers were pretty much neutral, with a strong week for sales, but a so-so week for shipments. Ethanol futures were lower.
The wheat complex was lower on fund and technical selling. Weekly export numbers are bearish with the marketing year ending, officially, May 31. The trade is watching very hot and dry conditions around parts of Kazakhstan, Russia, and China that could damage crops.
Cattle country was at a standstill on Friday afternoon with trade competed for the week. The asking prices on Monday are likely to start out at 144.00 to 145.00 in the South, and 234.00 plus in the North. The weekly slaughter was estimated at 537,000 head, 62,000 less than the previous week and down 58,000 head from 2013.
Boxed beef cutout values were lower on light to moderate demand and light offerings. Choice boxed beef was down .99 at 232.66, and select was 1.87 lower at 221.90.
Live cattle futures traded 50 higher to 57 points lower. Prices were pressured by profit taking and long liquidation. Besides taking some money off the table in the wake of Thursday’s rally, some traders moved to avoid the delivery process that begins late next week. June live cattle settled .22 lower at 137.80, and August was down .57 at 138.60.
June cattle settled .22 lower at 137.80, and August was down .57 at 138.60.
Feeder cattle finished the week unchanged to 75 points higher although the market ended higher in part to lower corn values the market took somewhat of a rest from sharply higher prices following sustained buying earlier in the week. New contract highs were set Thursday in some contracts. August was unchanged at 197.05, and September was up .05 at 198.12.
Feeder cattle receipts at Missouri auctions totaled 15,998 head this week. Compared to last week feeder steers and heifers sold mostly steady to firm. The supply was light, as many early week auctions observed Memorial Day on Monday, and most other sales have had light receipts the rest of the week. Demand was good to very good as buyers still need to own cattle and fill orders. Feeder steers medium and large 1 averaging 624 pounds brought 218.03 per hundredweight. 614 pound heifers traded at an average of 191.08.
Lean hogs ended the session mostly lower with the front months down the most. Disappointing fundamentals continue to depress board premiums. There was some late week profit taking and bear spreading. June was down .95 at 113.35, and July was .12 lower at 120.47.
The direct trade hog market activity was slow with light demand and sharply lower prices on Friday. Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed 3.12 lower at 106.33 weighted average on a carcass basis, the West was down 2.67 at 106.45, and the East was not reported due to confidentiality. Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady from 96.00 to 103.00. At Midwest markets barrows and gilts were fully steady from 72.00 to 78.00 live.
The pork carcass value ended the week 2.66 higher at 116.01 FOB plant. Belly primals were over $11.00 higher.
The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time in three years as it buckled under the weight of a severe winter. While some are betting that general growth will improve through the balance of the year, there remains great uncertainty, especially as meat prices are still geared to move higher.
The weekly hog kill was estimated by USDA at 1,750,000 head, down 223,000 from last week and 128,000 less than last year.
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