Chicago Closing Comments

Posted by Nogger - a legend in his own mind at 22:43 | Categorized as

25/01/11 -- Soybeans

Mar 11 soybeans closed at USD13.74 1/2, down 30 cents; Nov 11 soybeans closed at USD13.12 3/4, down 24 cents; Mar 11 soybean meal closed at USD372.60, down USD7.60; Mar 11 soybean oil closed at 55.78, down 140 points. Amazingly little old Britain seemed to be the catalyst to send the market crashing. Already nervous on rumours that China may be about to raise interest rates again in an effort to rein in inflation, news that UK GDP nose-dived in the last quarter of 2010 was enough to spook heavily long investors. Even the news of a large new crop export sale to China couldn't stem the tide.

Corn

Mar 11 corn closed at USD6.44 3/4, down 10 1/2 cents; Jul 11 corn finished at USD6.59, also down 10 1/2 cents. The dollar was higher and crude oil prices crashed a dollar and a half, well below the USD 90/barrel mark at USD86.36/barrel. There wasn't much fresh news to excite the bulls today. Argentina is turning wetter, China may be looking to up interest rates again, and the US market is heavily overbought. US export sales are also dropping off, Australian feed wheat is flexing it's muscles internationally - which may have a negative impact on corn demand.

Wheat

Mar 11 CBOT wheat closed at USD8.38 1/4, up 3 cents; Mar 11 KCBT wheat closed at USD9.17 1/2, up 9 1/2 cents; Mar 11 MGEX wheat closed at USD9.56, up 5 3/4 cents. Wheat managed to gain relative to the other grains/oilseeds on ideas that the US is one of the few shops left open. Unrest in Egypt may also spark some fresh buying, along the lines of what has been witnessed recently in Tunisia and Algeria - the latter is also in the market for wheat today. Iraq may confirm some wheat purchases overnight too.