DTN Midday Grain Comments 09/27 10:58

DTN Midday Grain Comments 09/27 10:58 Grains Mixed At Midday Row crops slightly firmer at midday, wheat trade is lower. By David Fiala DTN Contributing Analyst General Comments The U.S. stock market indices are firmer with the Dow futures up 55. The interest rate products are firmer. The dollar index is 65 higher. Energies are firmer with crude up 0.35. Livestock trade is sharply lower. Precious metals are sharply lower with gold down $12.20. CORN Corn trade is flat to 2 cents higher at midday trade with more position squaring likely ahead of the quarterly stocks report due out tomorrow. Trade is looking for 2.002 billion bushels of corn as of September 1st, with a range of 1.953 to 2.099 billion. Harvest will continue to make mixed progress with the varied weather, and more areas switching to soybeans. Ethanol margins remain tight but futures have been able to firm a little this week with blenders seeing further improvement, while lower sugar prices hang over the world export market. Corn basis will likely see more pressure harvest here in the near term but delays could limit pressure in some areas. Weekly export sales were very strong at 1.71 million metric tons. On the December chart, the 10-day, at $3.55, and 20-day at 3.58 today are our support levels. Resistance is at the $3.67 1/2 50-day then the $3.69 3/4 1-month high. SOYBEANS Soybean trade is 2 to 5 cents higher at midday with trade still working to consolidate a strong close over the $8.50 area ahead of the report. Meal is $1.00 to $2.00 higher and oil is narrowly mixed. Report expectations are for 399 million bushels, with a range of 385-408 million bushels. Soybean basis remains historically wide across the belt with storage and shipping concerns continuing to dominate with the recent uptick in fresh sales needing to be sustained in the near term with nothing on the daily wire today. Crush margins remain strong with oil starting to show broader strength with Palm oil firmer on the world market. Early planting in South America is underway with conditions on the dry side going in but no major concerns expected at this juncture with Southern Brazil turning wetter. The Brazilian and Argentine currencies remain historically cheap but the real has been able to firm a bit. The weekly export sales were decent at 870,700 metric tons of beans, 147,300 metric tons of old meal, 511,300 of new meal, 2,700 of old oil, and 8,000 of new oil. On the November chart support is the 20-day at $8.38 with the 10-day below that at $8.38, with resistance the recent high at $8.58 scored Tuesday. WHEAT Wheat trade is flat to 5 cents lower at midday with trade failing to hold early gains yet again we maintain the range. Stocks are expected to be at 2.35 billion bushels tomorrow on a range of 2.155 to 2.443 billion. The US dollar is turning solidly higher as we further digest the US rate hike yesterday. Russia will continue to work on spring wheat harvest and winter wheat planting with little change in the weather patterns, with harvest in Canada trying to finish as well. Australia looks to continue the recent weather pattern with harvest drawing nearer. Matif wheat is slightly weaker this morning. Weekly export sales improved to 657,180 metric tons. On the December Kansas City chart, we have support at the 10-day at $5.20 which we are testing at midday with the lower Bollinger Band at $5.00 below that, resistance is at the 20-day at $5.25 with the 200-day at $5.42 the next round up. David Fiala is a DTN contributing analyst and the President of FuturesOne and a registered adviser. He can be reached at dfiala@futuresone.com Follow him on Twitter @davidfiala (BAS) Copyright 2018 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.