Another rally in corn futures rippled through the livestock market, pushing feeder cattle and lean hogs in opposite directions. All but front-month feeders fell as traders continue to fear high grain costs will depress demand for young mouths to feed. August feeders rose 50 $138. By contrast, deferred hog contracts were mostly higher since spiking feed costs can lead to tighter supplies. August hogs fell 65 to 94.55, but most-active October rose 65 to 81.97. Meanwhile, live cattle edged higher as signs of tighter supplies ahead overcame persistent signs of slow beef demand. August live cattle ended at $119, up 5.
US grain and soy futures traded higher through the end of the session Monday, holding onto gains on renewed worries about the Midwest drought draining potential from the corn and soybean crops. Traders are also boosting prices on expectations for lower crop-condition ratings in a USDA report that came out at 4 pm EDT. August soybeans finished up 40 3/4 at $17.25, September corn gained 21 1/4 at $8.20, September wheat in Chicago gained 16 to $9.14, and September wheat in KC gained 11 to $9.17.
ICE cotton futures ended lower as robust global supplies continue to overshadow how farmers worldwide are moving out of the fiber to sow more-lucrative grains. December cotton fell 32 to 71.13, and the October contract lost 11 to close at $70.62.
Gold futures inched higher Monday for the fourth consecutive trading session Monday, lifted by hopes of new accommodative measures from central banks later this week. August gold rose $1.70 to $1,619.70 an ounce, September silver closed at $28.03, up 53.5 cents
Crude oil futures took a breather Monday and were marginally lower as investors looked ahead to a busy week of economic news. Front-month crude futures settled at $89.78 a barrel Monday, down 35 cents, Front-month gasoline settled at $2.93 a gallon, up 4.4 cents, and Front-month distillates finished the day at $2.87 a gallon, down 1.2 cents.
On Wall Street, stocks finished mostly flat on Monday as investors paused following the best two-day run this year, with central bank meetings and a full load of U.S. economic data looming. The Dow fell 2 to 13,073, the Nasdaq closed at 2,945, down 12 and the S&P 500 lost a fraction to 1,385.
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