CME lean hog futures closed sharply higher Thursday on support from strengthening cash prices, expectations of a seasonal tightening of supplies along with speculative and investor buying. Feb lean hogs gained 175 to end at 79.77, Apr was up 192, at 84.10.
After rising 1.5% since Wednesday, live cattle futures ran into some profit taking Thursday that turned prices back to close only slightly higher, Feeder cattle ended higher as buyers followed live cattle higher and responded to lower corn futures prices. February live cattle closed at $106 10, January feeder cattle were up 95 at $1.21.
US wheat futures finish lower with other commodity markets on profit-taking. March wheat in Chicago closed down 19 1/4 at $7.89, March wheat in KC dropped 14 3/4 to $8.58, and MGE March wheat slid 15 1/4 to $8.83.
US corn futures closed solidly lower on profit-taking and concerns demand may not be as strong as expected. March corn closed down 17 1/4 at $6.02.
U.S. soybean futures settled lower Thursday, retracing most of Wednesday's rally, as traders booked profits from prior gains, Soy product futures backpedaled Thursday, stumbling in unison with weakness in soybean. March soybeans ended down 15 1/2 at $13.78, March soy oil ended down 35 at 57.41, and March soy meal traded $3.90 lower at $369.10.
Cotton succumbs to the broadbased selloff in commodities, sparked by a weakening euro. In addition, India, the world's No. 2 cotton producer and exporter, raised its output estimate for this crop year to an all-time high of 32.9 million bales. March cotton fell 398 to close at 1.41, the May contract lost 289 to close at 1.37.
Gold edged lower Thursday as a better-than-expected weekly U.S. employment report and a stronger dollar weighed on prices. February gold dropped $2 to$1,371.70 an ounce Mar silver closed at $29.12, down 7.2 cents.
Crude oil futures finished at their lowest price in more than two weeks Thursday, as the dollar gained against the euro. February crude tumbled $1.92 to $88.38 a barrel, February gasoline fell a fraction to $2.44 a gallon, and February distillates gave up 3.10 cents to $2.51 a gallon.
Natural gas futures fell Thursday as slightly warmer weather forecasts hit gas-heating demand expectations and limited the boost from a government report that showed a larger-than-average decline in gas inventories. February Natural gas fell 3.9 cents to $4.43.
The Dow’s four-day win streak came to a halt amid subpar retail sales figures and the tumbling euro, but rallying tech stocks nudged the Nasdaq higher. The Dow lost 25 to close at 11,697, the Nasdaq closed at 2,709, up 7 2/3 and the S&P 500 finished down 2 ¾ at 1,273.
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