Market Recap: Corn Rebounds, Wheat and Soy Sag

Lean hog futures recorded gains in the wake of a sharp sell-off Thursday as some traders covered short positions and others continued to look for a seasonal rebound in demand. February hog futures rose 72 to 86.67, April hog futures rose 57 to 87.37.
 

U.S. live cattle futures finished a week filled with repositioning as participants squared books ahead of two much-anticipated developments: Weekly cash market sales and an annual USDA report. February live Cattle rose 15 to $124, March Feeder cattle finished up 97 to $154.

US wheat futures ended lower, sagging amid easing supply worries and spread-trading. March wheat in Chicago fell 6 1/4 to $6.47, and March wheat in KC dropped 9 to $7.
 

US corn futures ended higher on growing export demand, climbing despite weakness in wheat and soy. Dec. corn closed up 5 to $5.71.
 

US soy futures ended lower on easing South America supply concerns. March soybeans fell 3 3/4 to $12.19 while March soy meal dropped $1.40 to $322.20 and March soy oil was off 35 at 51.59.

Cotton futures traded slightly higher on Friday holding on to technical support and a lower US dollar. March cotton gained 2 to end the week at $95.61, and the May contract gained 5 to $96.09.

Gold ended the week at a fresh seven-week high as a weaker dollar and weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data offset sales from investors looking to lock in recent gains. February Gold rose $5.50 to $1,732.20 an ounce and February silver gained 7 cents to $33.74 an ounce.
 

Gasoline futures surged to their highest level in five months Friday, even as crude-oil futures were little changed, after a key gasoline unit was taken off line at a New Jersey refinery. February gasoline soared 8.02 cents to $2.92 a gallon, March crude fell 14 cents to $99.56 a barrel, and February distillates gained 1.69 cents to $3.07 a gallon.
 

Natural-gas futures rose Friday, rebounding on the last day of trading for the February contract on signs that colder weather could be ahead for parts of the U.S. February Natural gas gained 7.3 cents to end at $2.67.
 

On Wall Street, the broad S&P 500 ended in the green for the fourth week in a row, but the Dow's weak showing on Friday left the blue-chip average in the loss column for the first time in so many weeks. The Dow fell 74 to close at 12,660, the Nasdaq closed at 2,816, up 11, and the S&P 500 fell 2 to finish the week at 1,316.