DTN Midday Grain Comments 02/04 10:51

DTN Midday Grain Comments 02/04 10:51 All Grains Higher at Midday The U.S. stock market is firmer with the Dow up 480. The dollar index is 20 points higher. Interest rate products are firmer. Energies are firmer with crude up $0.70. Livestock trade is weaker with early gains fading. Precious metals are mixed with gold down 24.00. By David Fiala DTN Contributing Analyst General Comments CORN Corn trade is 3 to 4 cents higher at midday with rangebound action continuing as trade looks for signs of further export business and domestic buying after the test of the low end of the range Monday with buying steadily moving in this morning. Ethanol margins remain soft, with energy complex still trying to build support and trade looking for exports to ease the domestic oversupply with ethanol futures holding up better than the rest of the complex to start the week. Corn basis remains steady to firm, with movement getting easier with the warmer stretch coming. On the March contract support is the lower Bollinger Band and the recent lows at $3.76 3/4, then the $3.71 four-month low, with resistance at the $3.94 recent 2 1/2 month high with the 20-day just above the market at $3.86. SOYBEANS Soybeans trade are 3 to 5 cents higher at midday with trade looking to build on Monday's gains as we snapped a 10-session losing streak with deeply oversold conditions with trade backing off the dime higher move overnight. Meal is $1.00 to $2.00 lower, and oil is 50 to 60 points higher. South America continues to make good progress with weather and harvest moving forward with some concerns about excess rains in Northern Brazil. The Brazilian ral remains very cheap as well hurting U.S. export competitiveness near term, with their values sliding and nearby offers well under US values. The March soybean chart support is the $8.66 lower Bollinger Band, with resistance well above the market at the $9.00 level. WHEAT Wheat trade is 2 to 7 cents higher with trade find broad buying at midday after trade bounced back yesterday with Chicago finding the best support this morning. Weather threats for the Plains remain limited near-term domestically. Kansas City is at a 91-cent discount to Chicago near the top of the recent range, while Minneapolis is back to a 28-cent discount. World values moderated a bit to start the week. The March Kansas City chart support the lower Bollinger Band at $4.63, with resistance the 20-day at $4.85. 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 (AG) Copyright 2020 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.