Grain & Oilseed Futures See Multi-year Lows

Cattle futures ended the session mixed on Monday, buoyed by short-covering in the thinly-traded August contract, with just days before expiration.

August live-cattle rose 40 to $110, October cattle declined 127 to $105, September feeder-cattle futures fell 77 to $139.

The hog market also ended the session mixed, as market participants search for clearer signs of demand for pork products at discounted price levels.

October futures rose 5 to 61.37, December hog futures shed 30 to 56.32

Grain and soybean futures sank to fresh lows as big crops and expectations for swelling inventories pressured agricultural markets.

Wheat led the declines, falling to a fresh 10-year low as the U.S. spring wheat harvest progressed, adding to already abundant domestic inventories. Lower wheat futures buffeted the corn market, corn also suffered after advisory firm Pro Farmer on Friday released its closely watched crop production forecasts, calling for a record U.S. corn crop this year. Favorable weather and Pro Farmer’s projection for the biggest U.S. soybean crop in history weighed on prices for the oilseeds Monday, though losses were capped by proof of continued demand.

September Chicago wheat sank 13 to $3.70, September KC wheat fell 15 ½ to $3.74, September corn slid 4 1/2 to $3.11, and September soybeans declined 7 1/2 to $9.83

Cotton futures marked losses with spotty showers on the Texas Plains giving thoughts that the crop there has a chance to be large.  October cotton fell 102 to 66.69, and December new crop dropped 108 to 66.95.

Gold futures reversed losses on Monday, as investors looking for bargains stepped in to buy up the precious metal.  September gold gained $1.40 to $1,322.80, and September silver closed at $18.85, up 19 cents

Oil futures fell Monday as worries over the U.S. raising interest rates as early as next month rippled through an already jittery market.

October crude fell 66 cents to $46.98 a barrel, Gasoline futures settled down 4.59 cents to $1.46 a gallon, and Diesel futures fell 1.1 cents to $1.48 a gallon.

Natural gas futures fell Monday, reversing earlier gains, on uncertainty about the potential for storms to reach the Gulf of Mexico. September Natural gas settled down 1.8 cents to $2.85.

Stocks on Wall Street snapped a three-day losing streak on Monday as financial stocks rose after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the case for an interest rate hike had strengthened.  The Dow gained 107 to 18,502, the Nasdaq closed at 5,232, up 13 and the S&P 500 gained 11 to 2,180.