Corn up a penny. Friday, September 6, 2024

December corn is up 1½¢ this morning.

November soybeans are down 7¢.

December wheat contracts are mixed. CBOT wheat is up 1¼¢. KC wheat is down 1¼¢. Minneapolis wheat is down 3¼¢.

Naomi Blohm, senior market adviser with Total Farm Marketing, says the trade will be focused today on the monthly Employment Situation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prior to the release of the report, she said if the report indicated weaker hiring it could increase expectations for a larger cut to interest rates than already anticipated when the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meets later this month.

Following the report’s release, Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for StoneX, says the report was mixed in this regard.

“Wall Street looked to this morning’s jobs report to provide more clarity following mixed data released on Thursday that left traders worried about our economy,” he says. “This morning’s monthly jobs report is the final significant employment data to be released ahead of the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, [happening] mid-month. As such, it set the tone for the next couple of weeks. Stocks reacted with sharp moves in both directions when the data was released, because once again, it was mixed in nature leading to more ambiguity. In the end, stock futures moved higher on better expectations of a 50-basis point [0.5%] rate cut – bad news is good news.”

USDA released the weekly U.S. Export Sales report this morning. The Brock Report describes corn and soybean sales for the week ending Aug. 29 as “solid.”

“USDA reported net corn sales of 1.82 million metric tons (mmt) for 2024/2025, topping trade guesses of 700,000 metric tons to 1.4 mmt,” says The Brock Report. “Soybean net export sales of 1.66 mmt for 2024/2025 compared to trade guesses of 800,000 metric tons to 2 mmt. Wheat export sales were less impressive at a net 340,000 metric tons, compared to trade guesses of 300,000 to 600,000.”

October livestock contracts are mixed this morning. Live cattle are up 18¢. Feeder cattle are up 8¢. Lean hogs are down 3¢.

October crude oil is down 21¢.

The U.S. Dollar Index September contract is up to 101.16.

September S&P 500 futures are down 49 points. September Dow futures are down 147 points.

Tags: lean hogs, corn, soybeans, wheat, futures, live cattle, feeder cattle