DTN Midday Grain Comments 02/27 10:56

DTN Midday Grain Comments 02/27 10:56 Corn, Soybean, Wheat Futures Lower at Midday Corn futures are 4 to 5 cents lower at midday Monday; soybean futures are 7 to 8 cents lower; wheat futures are 10 to 17 cents lower. David M. Fiala DTN Contributing Analyst MARKET SUMMARY: Corn futures are 4 to 5 cents lower at midday Monday; soybean futures are 7 to 8 cents lower; wheat futures are 10 to 17 cents lower. The U.S. stock market is firmer with the S&P up 15. The U.S. Dollar Index is 40 points lower. Interest rate products are mixed. Energies are mixed with crude off .90 and natural gas up .11. Livestock trade is mixed with cattle leading. Precious metals are mixed with gold up $3.60. CORN: Corn futures are 4 to 5 cents lower at midday with the March contract heading toward delivery and little other fresh news as we saw early strength give way to selling again as trade gets more oversold. Ethanol margins should see support from the corn pullback and looming spring demand short term, along with better natural gas forward pricing. Crop development will continue to be watched in Brazil with some areas catching up on second crop corn planting, while other areas remain delayed, and Argentina continues to struggle. Weekly export inspections remaining soft at 572,622 metric tons (mt). Basis continues to stay flat. On the May chart, support is the fresh low at $6.43 1/4 with the lower Bollinger Band above the market at $6.53. SOYBEANS: Soybean futures are 7 to 8 cents lower at midday with early gains fading yet again while spreads remain sold as trade presses into support levels to start the week. Meal is $2.50 to $3.50 higher and oil is 100 to 120 points lower. Weekly export inspections slumped seasonally to 690,984 mt. Trade will be looking for the Brazil export pace to extend the strong recent movement with harvest pace catching up, with Argentina drier and warmer short term for the most part. New crop continues to struggle to move closer to swinging acres from corn short term with action struggling to start the week. Basis remains mostly sideways near term. May chart resistance is at the $15.24 20-day moving average, which we closed just below Friday, with the Lower Bollinger Band at $15.07 as further support. WHEAT: Wheat futures are 10 to 17 cents lower with Chicago action leading as trade is seeing selling pressure again as spreads gyrate between contracts and conditions get more oversold. The KC wheat areas saw some rains overnight, with more follow-up needed with SRW areas to see broader moisture overall. Matif wheat values have edged back lower to start the week as well. The strong dollar will likely limit the upside if sustained as we hold at the upper end of the recent range with another down day needed to shift the trend. Weekly export inspections improved at 591,725 mt. On the chart, KC May has faded back below the lower Bollinger Band at $8.36 with $8.08 below that as the recent low. David Fiala can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @davidfiala (c) Copyright 2023 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.