DTN Closing Grain Comments 12/15 13:46

DTN Closing Grain Comments 12/15 13:46 Soybeans, Meal Sink Despite Huge Export Sales; Winter Wheat Firms on Weather Concerns The futures markets are always hard to predict and Thursday was no exception. Following huge soybean export sales of over 108 million bushels (mb) last week, futures unexpectedly plunged with soy meal in tow. Likely pressured by outside financial markets following poor retail sales and hawkish Federal Reserve comments, wheat and corn were able to recover from early selling to score modest gains, with wheat reacting to an arctic blast next week that could reach the southern Plains. Dana Mantini Senior Market Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: March corn closed up 3 cents per bushel and July closed up 2 3/4. January soybeans closed down 8 3/4 cents and July closed down 7 1/2. March KC wheat closed up 10 1/4 cents, March Chicago wheat was up 8 cents and March Minneapolis wheat was down 1 1/4 cents. The December U.S. Dollar Index is trading up 0.871 at 104.610. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 892.95 points at 33,073.40. February gold is down $30.80 at $1,787.90, March silver is down $0.85 at $23.29 and March copper is down $0.1120 at $3.7660. January crude oil is down $1.19 at $76.09, January heating oil is up $0.0049, January RBOB is down $0.0762 and January natural gas is up $0.533.