Market Recap: Wheat and Soy Falter on Residual Effects from USDA Reports

Lean hog futures gave up big portions of their prior-day rally as outside markets added to concerns that wholesale pork and hog markets may remain under pressure until after Easter. April hog futures closed down 7 to 84.02, June hog futures fell 52 to 91.65.
 

Cattle futures faced broad losses on Tuesday as traders exited long positions to cash in on gains from Monday and remained unsure of demand for beef in coming weeks. April live cattle closed down 105 to $119, April feeders fell 27 to $149.

US corn futures ended higher, rallying to 2-week highs on continued support from Friday's lower-than-expected USDA report. May corn ended up 3 1/4 at $6.58 and May wheat in Chicago rose 1 to $6.58, May wheat in KC closed unchanged at $6.90, May soybeans dropped 4 1/4 to $14.16, May bean meal feel 4.70 to $386.50, and May bean oil dropped 26 to close at $55.99.

Cotton futures eased late in the trading day as the US dollar got stronger. May cotton fell 48 to 92.64, the July contract lost 87 to close at 92.70.

Gold futures fell in after-market trading Tuesday after the latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes showed few hints of imminent monetary stimulus.  June gold fell $7.70 to $1,672, and May silver closed at $33.26, up 16.7 cents
 

Oil futures finished lower Tuesday after the Federal Reserve released minutes from a recent meeting that suggested little enthusiasm for additional stimulus measures. May crude fell $1.22 to $104.01 a barrel, May gasoline gained 1.32 cents at $3.39 a gallon, and May distillates lost 2.21 cents to $3.22 a gallon.
 

Natural-gas futures rose for the second day in a row Tuesday, in a partial recovery from a string of five losing sessions despite little news or new data showing a sustainable turnaround is in the works. May nat gas closed up 3.5 cents to $2.18.
 

On Wall Street, the markets capped the choppy session to the downside after the latest Fed minutes left traders less optimistic that the central bank will take additional measures to boost the U.S. economy. The Dow fell 64 to close at 13,199, the Nasdaq closed at 3,113, down 6, and the S&P 500 lost 5 to finish at 1,413.