Lean hogs at the CME settled negatively on futures' bearish price premiums compared with the exchange's lean hog index and profit-taking, July hogs settled up 50 at 80.35. July pork bellies at the Merc gained 50 to 98.00 on short-covering.
Profit-taking after a recent string of market advances pulled Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle prices lower Thursday, feeder cattle finished lower on profit-taking and spillover live cattle pressure. June live cattle closed down 45 at 89.60, August feeders closed down 75 at 110.15.
U.S. wheat futures closed higher Thursday, with gains led by the Minneapolis Grain Exchange on concerns about Canada's crop. September wheat in Chicago closed up 1 3/4 at $4.78, September wheat in KC jumped 4 1/2 to $5.06 and Minneapolis Grain Exchange September wheat ended up 6 3/4 at $5.49.
Corn futures eked out modest gains Thursday due to stronger-than-expected weekly export sales. July corn gained 1 1/4 to $3.57.
Soybean futures ended mixed Thursday, with the nearby, old crop future sliding on poor weekly export sales, Soy oil futures ended lower, consolidating after a four-day bounce, Soy meal futures finished mixed. July soybeans dropped 5 3/4 to $9.52, July soy oil fell 21 to 38.05, and July soy meal ended down $1.00 at $286.00.
ICE cotton prices slipped as traders sold on technical cues following a rally that began June 7 in the most-active contract. Dec cotton lost 28 to 79.42.
Gold futures settled at another record high Thursday, continuing an upward trend as investors sought refuge following negative U.S. economic data. August gold gained $18.20 $1,248.70 an ounce, July silver gained 33.5 cents to $18.7 an ounce.
Crude oil futures settled lower Thursday, as a three-day rally was snapped on concerns over near-term oversupply and disappointing U.S. economic data. July crude fell 88 cents to $76.79 a barrel, July gasoline gained 1.88 cents to $2.16 a gallon, and July distillates gained 3.73 cents to $2.14 a gallon
Natural gas futures finished higher Thursday, driven by forecasts of sweltering summer weather and by government data showing a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. gas inventories for last week. July Natural gas jumped 18.4 cents to $5.16.
Driven by a flood of late-day buying, Wall Street eked out minor gains on Thursday, overcoming a trio of bleak economic reports and returning all three major indexes back in the black on the year. The Dow gained 24 to close at 10,434, the Nasdaq gained 1 ¼ to finish at 2,307, and the S&P 500 closed at 1,116, up 1 ½.
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