Friday, March 31, 2023

Friday Market Watch - Bullish Cash Trade Sends Live Cattle to New High; Soybeans Soar on Lower Stocks, Acreage Than Traders Expected

LIVESTOCK:

Active futures contracts were higher for live cattle and feeder cattle Friday, supported by broadly higher cash trade in all regions. Hog futures were roughly steady after Thursday afternoon's mostly neutral Hogs and Pigs report.

June cattle closed up $1.12 at a new contract high of $162.12 Friday, also a sixth consecutive higher close, and capped a stellar gain of $5.52 on the week. Even before this week's higher cash trade developed, cattle futures traded higher as outside markets calmed down, helped by no fresh news of further banking problems. Thursday's cash trade put the focus back on fundamentals as live cattle traded $3 to $4 higher in the South and around $170 in the North, up $6 from a week ago. Northern dressed trade took place around $270, roughly $5 higher than last week.

More: Friday Closing Livestock Market Update - Bullish Cash Trade Sends Live Cattle to New High

GRAINS:

May corn closed up 11 cents and December corn was down 1/2 cents. May soybeans closed up 31 cents and November soybeans were up 16 1/4 cents. May KC wheat closed up 6 1/4 cents, May Chicago wheat was unchanged and May Minneapolis wheat was up 15 3/4 cents.

For The Week:

May corn closed 17 1/2 cents higher, with December corn up 6 1/4 cents. May soybeans rose 77 1/4 cents, while November was up 46 1/2 cents. May Chicago wheat closed up 3 3/4 cents, while KC May was up 29 3/4 and Minneapolis May finished 36 1/2 cents higher.


DAIRY:

Block cheese price declined 7.50 cents, closing at $1.85 with two loads traded. There were six uncovered offers and one unfilled bid remaining at the close. Price has fallen back to the lowest level since March 13. Barrel cheese price declined 6.75 cents, ending at $1.8075 with seven loads traded. Price did decline to $1.8050 before rebounding slightly. There was one unfilled bid and two uncovered offers remaining at the close. Dry whey price increased 0.75 cent, closing at 44.75 with one load traded. Class III futures are 40 cents lower to a penny higher with the greatest loss being in April and the only gain in October. Butter price remained unchanged at $2.3975 with no loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk price gained 1.25 cents, closing at $1.16 with two loads traded. Class IV futures again have not yet traded. Butter futures 1.25 cents lower to 0.75 cent higher. Dry whey futures are 0.60 lower to 0.85 cent higher. USDA will release the February Agricultural Prices report providing average prices used in calculating income over feed for the Dairy Margin Coverage program.

More: Friday Closing Dairy Market Update - February Income Over Feed: $6.19


FORAGE: This Week's Hay Markets (Forage Fodder Blog)


OUTSIDE MARKETS:

The March U.S. Dollar Index is trading up 0.39 at 102.21. May crude oil gained $1.30 per barrel, ending at $75.67. The Dow gained 415 points, closing at 33,274, with the NASDAQ up 208 points, closing at 12,222. April gold is down $11.60 at $1,986.10, May silver is up $0.13 at $24.12 and May copper is down $0.0065. April ultra-low sulfur diesel is up $0.0556, April RBOB gasoline is up $0.0340 and April natural gas is up $0.125.





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