Grains were closed overnight due to the Thanksgiving Holiday and will open at 8:30 AM CDT for trading. S&P futures were modestly higher while crude oil was down in early trade.
Friday morning, USDA’s export sales report proved to be a mixed bag of news. For once, corn came in as the shining star with over 2 MMT of sales on the week. Wheat was below expectations and soybeans were within expectations.
WEEKLY EXPORT SALES
| Actual | Expected | |
| Corn | 303.7 | 400-600 |
| Soybeans | 1,173.6 | 1,000-1,500 |
| Wheat | 2,036.3 | 900-1,300 |
In South America, rains fell in Mato Grasso over the past 2 days but are expected to diminish going into the weekend. Argentina got less rain than expected but dry spots are limited for now.
China’s stock market plunged 5.5% overnight on probes of the country’s two largest brokerages, but US and European markets were mostly unfazed. Oil prices were trending down Friday, pressured by a stronger dollar and the global oversupply of crude still clouding the outlook for the industry. Earlier this week, the U.S. Energy Department said crude stockpiles ticked up by 1 million barrels last week, bringing the total tally to 488.2 million barrels, around a level not seen in the last eight decades. U.S. oil output has also held stable, around 9.2 million barrels a day, but down from a peak of 9.6 million barrels a day in April.
