DAILY MARKET COMMENTARY

4/2/2025

Good afternoon. Grain markets saw mostly lower closes at mid-week on Wednesday, as Tuesday's speculative money inflow dried up a bit and volume on spot corn and beans retracted by about a third from where it was yesterday. There have been leaks and rumors throughout the day regarding Trump's tariffs announcements this afternoon in the news and on social media, but amid a lack of confirmation, it remains that most all market participants will be waiting to hear details directly from the horse's mouth later this afternoon.

CK closed Wednesday at 4.57 and 3/4, down 4 cents. CN was down 3 cents at 4.65 and 1/4. Inside day for CN. SK closed at 10.29 and 1/2, down 4 and 3/4. SN finished at 10.45, down 4 and 1/4. Inside day for the beans also. WK closed at 5.39 and 1/4, down a penny and 1/4. Products were mixed, May soybean meal closed at 287.20, down $5.10/ton, and May soybean oil closed at 48.50, up 1.06 cents/lb. New contract lows for May meal at 287.10, and bean oil came within a tick of the February high at 48.55. Livestock markets were higher on Wednesday, April live cattle closed at 210.37, up $1.25, April feeders closed at 288.87, up 60 cents, and April hogs closed at 87.45, up 7 cents. Outside markets have had a choppy day but are mostly higher at the moment; crude oil futures are up 50-60 cents/bbl, the Dow Jones index is up 280 points and the US$ index is down 45-50 points. The S&P500 is up 40 points and the NASDAQ is up 160 points. Gold futures are up $15-20/oz, but have had an inside day so far and have not made new contract highs for the first session this week.

Spreads ended the day mostly lower, with corn spreads down a half cent to down 4 and 1/4 cents, and soybean spreads finished 3 and 3/4 cents lower to a quarter of a cent higher. CK/CN closed at -7 and 1/2, down a penny, and SK/SN closed at -15 and 1/2, down a half cent. SK/SN traded to its lowest level since late February at -16.

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