Commodity Night Cap: Grains, Oil, Natural Gas, Gold All Fall

Wheat - futures for July fell a whopping 17.25 cents to $5.1175 a bushel.  Intraday prices touched $4.9575, the lowest level since December of 2008.  The USDA reported that 13.77 million acres of wheat were seeded this spring which was well beyond expectations of 13 million acres.  Stockpiles also almost more than doubled from a year ago rising to 667 million.

Corn - also got hammered today and finished limit down on USDA planting figures.  Approximately 87.035 million acres were planted this season which was about 2.4% higher than previous estimates.  It is also about 1.2 million acres more than was planted at this time last year.  Limit for corn is 30 cents a bushel and December contracts fell to $3.6275.

Soybeans - just like corn and wheat suffered from unfavorable planting figures released by the USDA.  Beans did better than corn and wheat however and only slid .3 percent on a move of 2.5 cents to $9.81 for the November futures contract.  Soybeans have been assisted by strong Chinese demand and weak yields out of South America.

Sugar - was down from 3 year highs today as the dollar rallied and US equities fell.  October futures were down .05 cent to $17.85 cents per pound.  Sugar has been flying this year due to supply shortages in India.

Cocoa - found a direction today after being mostly unchanged for the last two sessions.  July futures fell $38 to $2,487 and September dropped $43 to $2,510 on a stronger dollar and weak global demand.

Orange Juice - futures, which have been down the majority of June, finished strong on the last day of the month.  July futures were up 3.15 to 77.50 while September contracts also gained picking up 2.50 to go to 78.85.

Coffee - the political turmoil in Honduras seemed to subside a bit today leading coffee prices lower. July futures fell .55 to 117.30 while September contracts were off .35 to 119.90.  Honduras produced 3.8 million bags (132 lbs) of coffee last year and is expected to bring 3.6 million bags to the market this year.  Market participants are closely watching Honduran developments with regard to the military ousting of the Latin nation’s President.

Pork Bellies - were smashed today and all contracts hit new seasonal lows.  Follow through sales and plummeting corn prices damaged pricing as sell stops were triggered.  July futures were off 170 points to 54.30 and August was down 175 points to 55.70 cents per pound.

Lean Hogs - July through February contracts were up due to short covering and investment fund buying.  July futures were up 65 points to 58.67 and August closed up 202 to 60.65. China also announced today that it would stop accepting US poultry exports as of July 1.  This news raised questions in the market as some traders feel increased domestic meat options may drive all meat prices lower on overall meat supply increases.

Live Cattle - profit taking and poor technicals hurt live cattle today as the market dealt with a lock limit down day in corn.  June settled 210 points lower to 82.52 while August was at 85.25, a change of 15 points.

Feeder Cattle - was up today on corn’s big decline and August contracts touched seven month highs.  August feeders ended 110 points up to finish the session at 102.82.  September was largely unchanged gaining only 10 points to end at 101.80 cents per pound.

Gold - August and July futures were down $13.30 to $927.40 and $927.10, respectively, per ounce on weak consumer confidence numbers announced for June.  The dollar also rose today for the first time in four trading sessions.

Silver - followed gold lower but got hit even harder by a raising dollar and broad flight from commodities today.  September contracts fell 37.5 cents or roughly 2.7 percent, to close at $13.60 an ounce.  Silver was up in the quarter by 4.7 percent but has lost 13 percent this June.

Platinum - closed down today on overall commodity weakness and a gain in the US dollar.  Platinum, like Palladium, is largely purchased for use in the automotive industry when not being held speculatively.  It has had a rough run recently as traders wrestle with an estimated 20% drop in global vehicle demand during 2009.  July futures were off $7.5 to $1,176.7 an ounce while October closed down $7.9 to $1185.3.

Palladium - like platinum Palladium fell today as September, December, and March contracts all closed $0.40 lower to $250.95, $252.05 and $253.55 respectively.

Copper- prices continued to flat line and dropped the most in a weak as the dollar rallied and figures on US consumer confidence brought bearish sentiment back to the market.  September futures were off 5.4 cents to $2.272 a move of 2.3% which was the largest in a week.  Copper however was up 23% in the second quarter; many traders believe however that copper is fundamentally priced at its peak.   July contracts were also down .0545 to $2.2580

Crude Oil - falling consumer confidence and a rising US dollar helped crude futures lower today.  Initial crude price declines were met with bullish sentiment in post market trading which arose from data showing crude stocks had unexpectedly declined hit the market.  The API said in a report released late today that domestic stocks fell 6.8 million barrels to 349.7 million.  August crude finished down 89 cents to close at $70.60 per barrel.

Natural Gas - was down today on follow through selling off the IEA announcement that Natural Gas demand should continue to fall throughout 2009, the first annual fall in 50 years.  Natural gas was also hurt by an overall weaker commodities market and stronger US dollar.  August contracts fell .109 to $3.835 while September dropped 1.21 to $3.982.

Gasoline RBOB - August futures were down 1.3 cents to $1.9224 and July contracts expired today at $1.8972 after dropping 3.86 cents.

Heating Oil - closed down 2.85 cents to $1.8052 for delivery in August.  Like RBOB July contracts expired today and settled off 6.55 cents or nearly 4% to close at $1.7180.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email