DTN Early Word Grains 02/24 05:57

DTN Early Word Grains 02/24 05:57 Grains Weak as Coronavirus Fears Heightened March corn is down 3 cents per bushel, March soybeans are down 9 1/4 cents, and May KC wheat is down 7 1/2 cents. By Tregg Cronin DTN Contributing Analyst 6:00 a.m. CME Globex: March corn is down 3 cents per bushel, March soybeans are down 9 1/4 cents, and May KC wheat is down 7 1/2 cents. CME Globex Recap: Equity markets are sharply lower overnight, led by the Italian FTSE MIB, down 4.30% at the time of this writing. The coronavirus is spreading swiftly in parts of Europe with Italy imposing strict quarantine across at least 10 towns in the northern part of the country. Officials said the third Italian had died from the virus with the infection count up to 152. In Iran, the death count rose to eight, countering ideas the global response had the virus on the decline. The more extreme the quarantine efforts get, the harder global growth will be impacted. Grain markets are weaker across the board, led by Chicago and Kansas City wheat with heavy selling in soybean oil as well. Updates from the USDA Outlook Forum were a mixed bag but assuming normal weather this growing season, there should be no shortage of any commodity at the end of 2020/21. South American crops seem like they are still getting larger which will increase competition for U.S. grains this summer and fall. OUTSIDE MARKETS: Previous closes on Friday showed the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 227.57 at 28,992.41 and the S&P 500 down 35.48 at 3,373.23 while the 10-Year Treasury yield ended at 1.471%. Early Monday, the March DJIA futures are down 765 points. Asian markets are lower with Japan's Nikkei 225 down 92.41 (-0.39%) and China's Shanghai Composite down 8.44 points (-0.28%). European markets are lower with London's FTSE 100 down 239.53 points (-3.24%), Germany's DAX down 468.02 points (-3.45%) and France's CAC 40 down 216.25 points (-3.59%). The March Euro is down 0.004 at 1.080 and the March U.S. dollar index is up 0.322 at 99.510. The March 30-Year T-Bond is up 44/32nds, while April gold is up $35.90 at $1,684.70 and April crude oil is down $1.86 at $51.52. Soybeans on China's Dalian Exchange were up 0.62% while soybean meal was down 1.21%.