In the overnight session the grains traded lower pressured by some weekend rains and a milder weather forecast.
USDA reported a sale of 150,000 metric tons of corn for delivery to Columbia for the 17/18 marketing year.
Corn traded down 5 1/4 cents, soybeans down 14 cents and wheat down 4 ½ cents. September corn is now approaching support around 3.64 ½ from the low which was back on June 23rd. This support marks the low side of the range that corn has traded since the beginning of June.
The latest weather models show cooler temperatures across the midwest into the middle of this week. Precipitation is forecast to be normal this week with above average moisture expected in the Texas panhandle, Southern Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri by the weekend. The Dakotas and Minnesota showed some slight improvement in the precipitation outlook.
The commitment of traders report released on Friday showed that for the week ending July 25th large speculators cut their net long positions in Corn by 1,434 contracts to 45,746. Wheat speculators also saw net selling by 9,951 contracts to reach a net short position of 31,337. Soybean speculators trimmed their net short position by 11,977 contracts to just 156.
The crop conditions report will be released after the market close and the trade is looking for a slight improvement in the good-to-excellent rating in corn, unchanged in soybeans and a decline in spring wheat.
The risk of trading futures, hedging, and speculating can be substantial. Grain Hedge is a Branch of Foremost Trading LLC (NFA ID: 0307930)
