Market Recap: Grains & Oilseeds Soar on Weather Concerns

Lean-hog futures ended higher Monday amid support from grains and live-cattle. October lean hogs gained 92 to 86.02, and December gained 92 to 83.07.
U.S. live-cattle futures ended higher Monday, surging on a government report that showed feedlot supplies were tighter than expected. October live-cattle ended up 45 at $127, August feeder-cattle ended down 6 at $154.

U.S. soybean futures backed off slightly into the trading day's close, after surging by their exchange-imposed daily limit high Monday as hot, dry weather in the Midwest stoked fears that U.S. crop production will fall short of expectations. Corn futures were lifted Monday by the gains in soybeans, and from worries that immature fields could be hurt by the lack of precipitation ahead for central Illinois and Iowa.
September soybeans jumped 62 1/2 to $14.27, December corn futures picked up 30 1/2 closing at $5.00, September wheat in Chicago rose 20 1/4 to $6.54, and September KC wheat gained 12 ¾ to $7.08.

Bargain hunting boosted cotton in quiet trade on Monday. Near-month October gained 101 to 85.25, and new crop December gained 82 to 84.90.

 
Silver pushed to a three-month high, while gold eased, as traders weighed the effect of weaker U.S. economic data on the Federal Reserve's potential stimulus rollback. Gold futures pulled back in thin trading Monday as investors cashed out after prices breached $1,400 an ounce. September Silver 29 cents to $23.94, December gold fell $2.70 to $1,393.10
Oil futures fell Monday as Libya resumed crude exports from a previously closed terminal, though traders continued to monitor the conflict in Syria for word of a potential military response by the U.S. and other Western nations.

October crude fell 50 cents to $105.92 a barrel, September gasoline dropped 5.55 cents to $2.95 a gallon, and September distillates fell 1.6 cents to $3.07 a gallon.
Natural-gas futures settled modestly higher Monday, amid forecasts calling for above-normal temperatures in the Midwest to stretch into early September. September Natural gas for gained 2.8 cents to $3.51.
U.S. stocks fell on Monday, turning negative in the last hour of trading after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said all nations must stand up for accountability on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The Dow fell 64 to 15,946, the Nasdaq closed off a fraction at 3,657, and the S&P 500 dropped 6 to close at 1,656.