DTN Early Word Grains 01/19 06:00

DTN Early Word Grains 01/19 06:00 Grains Mostly Steady, Meet New Secretary? March corn was up 1/2 cent, March soybeans were down 2 1/4 cents, and July Chicago wheat was down 1 1/4 cents. By Todd Hultman DTN Analyst 6:00 a.m. CME Globex: March corn was up 1/2 cent, March soybeans were down 2 1/4 cents, and July Chicago wheat was down 1 1/4 cents. CME Globex Recap: Grains were quiet, but staying mostly firm early Thursday after numerous sources reported former Georgia governor and grain business owner Sonny Perdue was tapped to be the next Secretary of Agriculture. The U.S. dollar index is down 0.15 after Fed Chair Yellen repeated support for gradual increases in the interest rate in Wednesday's speech in San Francisco. OUTSIDE MARKETS: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 22.05 points at 19,804.72. The NASDAQ Composite was up 16.92 points to 5,555.65 and the S&P 500 was up 4.00 points at 2,271.89 Wednesday. DJIA futures were down 26 points early Thursday morning. Asian markets were mixed with Japan's Nikkei up 177.88 points (.9%), Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 48.30 points (-0.2%), and China's Shanghai Composite down 11.71 points (-0.4%). European markets were lower Thursday with London's FTSE 100 down 41.53 points (-0.6%), Germany's DAX down 15.05 points (-0.1%), and France's CAC 40 losing 10.80 points (-0.2%). The U.S. dollar index was down 0.16 at 101.13 while the euro was down 0.00125 at 1.06795. March 30-year T-Bonds were down a half-point at 151'17 while February gold was down $10.30 at $1,201.80. March crude oil was up $0.35 at $52.24 while Brent crude was up $0.44 at $54.36. Dalian soybean futures were higher while Malaysian palm oil futures were down 0.50% overnight.