Corn Rises as Agriculture Assets Dodge Broader-Market Sell-Off -- Daily Grain Highlights
November 26 2021 - 03:53PM
Dow Jones News
By Dan Molinski
--Corn for January delivery rose 1.2% to $5.87 a bushel on the
Chicago Board of Trade Friday as investors sought safe havens to
park their funds amid a Covid-induced sell-off in equities and
energy commodities.
--Soybeans for January delivery fell a moderate 1.1% to $12.52 a
bushel
--Wheat for January delivery fell 1.3% to $8.25 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Fear Returns: Grain futures saw a little bit of everything
Friday. They joined other financial markets in broad-based selling
early on, but then detached from the intensifying rout as the
holiday-shortened session wore on, and corn even managed to close
higher. "The charts look stinky going home, the Covid-effect is
open to question for next week, and the seasonals don't turn up
until December 10th," says Charlie Sernatinger at EDF Man Capital
Markets, regarding corn. "So, how do you want to trade this? It
would appear as if we have a multi-session correction coming at us,
especially in light of the 'take-no-prisoners' break in petroleum
prices today. In the big picture, corn is still making higher
highs."
INSIGHT
It's Not All About Covid: While renewed fears over Covid are
dominating all discussions among futures traders heading into the
weekend, grains showed Friday that they operate more independently
from "The Market" than many other sub-sectors, and analysts say
next week investors will once again be eyeing crop yields, weather
and other supply-side issues. "Wheat closed lower after making new
highs for the move again as too much rain is falling on Australian
crops," said Jack Scoville at Price Futures. "The rains could
easily hurt the quality of the crop and might hurt yields. The
Australian problems come as the north has seen its share of
problems in the growing season as well and European prices went to
new highs yesterday. Ideas are that the U.S. will have good demand
for Wheat as the rest of the northern hemisphere is short
production this year."
Weather Watch: While the big-picture question about the new
Covid variant could certainly impact demand, weather will also be
front and center. "The international 6-10 day forecasts call for
below normal precipitation for the far south of Brazil with below
normal temperatures over the north, below normal precipitation for
the Argentine grain areas with normal temperatures, above normal
precipitation for the east coast of Australia with below normal
temperatures for the east, and below normal precipitation for the
western half of South Africa with below normal temperatures," says
EDF's Mr. Sernatinger.
AHEAD
--The USDA releases its weekly grain export inspections data at
11 a.m. ET Monday.
--The USDA will release its weekly crop progress report at 4
p.m. ET Monday.
--The USDA releases its monthly agricultural prices report at 3
p.m. ET Tuesday.
Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 26, 2021 15:38 ET (20:38 GMT)
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