GRAINS:
March corn closed unchanged, and May corn was up 1/2 cents. March soybeans closed down 3 1/4 cents and May soybeans were down 3 1/2 cents. March KC wheat closed down 12 1/4 cents, March Chicago wheat was down 4 cents, March Minneapolis wheat was down 5 cents.
After a sluggish open on Sunday evening and overnight session to begin the new week, row-crop futures caught a bullish spark as the day trade began but eventually saw bullish momentum fade through the session on a lack of rally-sustaining news for Monday. Friday’s session was overshadowed by the Supreme Court ruling which struck down President Trump’s use of IEEPA in implementing tariffs. Slow GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 (due to the government shutdown) as well as sticky inflation received little acknowledgment until Monday’s session, with heavy selling in equities to begin the new week and a flow of funds to commodities was at least partially responsible for a recovery from overnight lows before profit-taking again set in. Crude oil futures were steady to slightly lower ahead of the next round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran scheduled for Thursday.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex was trading lower as traders cautiously enter the new week, hoping fundamental support will again surface and help guide the contracts higher. But throughout Monday’s trade the complex traded lower, as caution remains the underlying theme. The pressure seems to stem from a number of different sources, as traders have noted the downturn in the equity markets, are aware of the uptick in the grain complex, and are also mulling around last Friday’s Cattle on Feed report. Nevertheless, it seems as though the market will likely keep its mundane attitude into Tuesday. New showlists appear to be mixed, lower in Kansas and Texas, but higher in Nebraska/Colorado. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.28 ($367.98) and select up $3.09 ($363.83) with a movement of 51 loads (26.85 loads of choice, 4.38 loads of select, 8.94 loads of trim and 10.48 loads of ground beef).
The feeder cattle complex was also lower as traders aren’t willing to advance the feeder cattle market at a time live cattle contracts are lower and grain prices are seeing a modest bump. And at this point it’s very unlikely the market will change its direction and turn higher as a doggish attitude is currently overwhelming the market.
The cattle contracts may be trading lower, but the lean hog complex was keeping with its current trend and continued to trade higher as traders are pleased with the morning uptick in pork demand, and once again aren’t up against immediate pressure of hitting technical resistance.
