DTN Midday Grain Comments 02/24 11:08

DTN Midday Grain Comments 02/24 11:08 Grains Lower at Midday Corn is 5 to 6 cents lower at midday, soybeans are 17 to 19 cents lower and wheat is 9 to 17 cents lower. By David Fiala DTN Contributing Analyst General Comments The U.S. stock market is weaker with the Dow down 845. The dollar index is 2 lower. Interest rate products are weaker. Energies are weaker with crude down 2.50. Livestock trade is sharply weaker with cattle the downside leader. Precious metals are mixed with gold up $25.00. CORN Corn trade is 5 to 6 cents lower at midday with broad commodity weakness as coronavirus concerns intensified over the weekend. Ethanol margins will be mixed with corn cheaper and blender margins tighter with ethanol futures staying flat. Corn basis remains steady, with little change in recent days, but more open weather should help movement along with March basis contracts coming due this week. Weekly export inspections were improved at 912,922 metric tons. On the March contract, support is the lower Bollinger band and the fresh lows at $3.70 marked this morning. Resistance is at the lower Bollinger band at $3.75. SOYBEANS Soybeans trade is 16 to 18 cents lower at midday with trade scoring new lows with ongoing demand concerns. Meal is $3.00 to $4.00 lower and oil is 105 to 115 points lower. South America continues to make good progress with weather and harvest moving forward with little change on the horizon with some rain delays in Brazil keeping harvest off the average pace. The Brazilian real remains very cheap, as well, hurting U.S. export competitiveness near term with new lows scored this week. The dollar snapped back on flight-to-safety trade. New-crop soybeans will need to gain vs. corn to provide an acreage incentive ahead of planting in the U.S. with little progress so far this spring. Weekly export inspections were disappointing at 594,536 metric tons. USDA announced 163,290 metric tons sold to Mexico for old crop. The March soybean chart support is the lower Bollinger band at $8.71, with resistance the 20-day at $8.88. WHEAT Wheat trade is 9 to 18 cents lower at midday with spillover pressure from row crops and the strong dollar fueling selling to open the week. Weather threats for the Plains remain limited with mostly warmer short-term weather. KC is at a 79-cent discount to Chicago, regaining a nickel the last few days while Minneapolis is back to a 19-cent discount, as well, narrowing sharply from last week's action. World export business has been quieter in recent days. Weekly export inspections were range bound at 411,523 metric tons. The March KC chart support is the lower Bollinger band at $4.58, and resistance the 20-day at $4.74. 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.