Grains close holiday session on a high note. Thursday, December 23, 2021

To finish the holiday-shortened week, grains have shown strength which continued into the final moments of trade on Thursday.

The bulls have shown their strength this week, trading mostly on fears of South American weather. However, many analysts note this weekend could be a pivotal moment if forecasts shift at all for the United States’ largest competitors.

To finish the week, March corn futures added 3¼¢ ending the week well above $6 at $6.05¾, May futures put on 3¼¢ to close at $6.07¼, and July corn futures followed suit ending 3½¢ higher at $6.06.

January soybean futures ended 3¼¢ higher at $13.32, March soybean futures settled 5¾¢ higher at $13.40¾, and May soybean futures saw the most strength today posting 7¼¢ gains to close at $13.48¼.

March wheat futures posted small gains today up just ¾¢ to close at $8.14¾.

Jan. soymeal futures settled $3.30 per short ton at $406.10.

Jan. soy oil futures added 61¢ cent to close the week at 55.44¢ per pound.

In the outside markets, crude oil finished 93¢ per barrel higher at $73.69, the U.S. dollar closed lower on the day, and the Dow Jones Industrials finished 279 points higher (+0.78%) to end the week at 36,032.46.

Weekly export sales reported corn sales ending the week of December 16 totaled 982,900 down 50% from the previous week, higher than analysts’ expectations, which came in at 725,000 metric tons. The report also noted soybean net sales hit a marketing-year low for the week of December 16, dropping 38% from the previous week. A total of 811,500 metric tons were reported, below analyst expectations which ranged between 700,000 and 1,700,000 metric tons.

Al Kluis, Kluis Commodity Advisors, shared in his morning newsletter to clients that the bulls have been in control this holiday week, but things could shift over the holiday.

“If the weather forecast for South America were to shift over the holiday, then we could see quite a wild move when trading resumes Sunday evening,” Kluis states.

Jason Roose, U.S. Commodities, shares that there are multiple factors that continue to push today’s price action all the way through to the holiday close.

“Grains are trading mixed in overbought technical territory today. With a short trade week, the focus this time of year is dominated by weather in South America which has an added premium with dry weather. The U.S. dollar’s stability and lack of strong exports have limited upside temporarily,” Roose shared.

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Tags: soybean futures, corn futures, Grains, sales, wheat futures, soymeal futures, soy oil futures