DTN Midday Grain Comments 12/16 10:46

DTN Midday Grain Comments 12/16 10:46 Corn Lower, Beans Higher Midday Thursday Corn trade is 2 to 3 cents lower; beans are 3 to 4 cents higher, and wheat trade is 2 to 10 cents lower. David M. Fiala DTN Contributing Analyst MARKET SUMMARY: The U.S. stock market is lower with the DOW down 370 points. The dollar index is 10 points higher. Interest rate products are weaker. Energies are weaker with crude off 2.00 and natural gas down .35. Livestock trade is firmer with hogs leading. Precious metals are mixed with gold up $13.00. CORN: Corn trade is 2 to 3 cents lower in quiet midday trade with range bound action continuing with little fresh news. Ethanol margins have stabilized a bit with corn holding the lower end of the range and natural gas backing off the highs, but demand is likely to remain soft until Holiday travel keeping blender margins narrow. Dry weather in Argentina is raising some concern for their crop short term with some recent rains and warmer drier weather to return near term before moderating again. The daily export wire was quiet again today. Spread action has been mixed this week with flat action overnight. Basis continues to deflate slowly in the west but remains well above average. On the March chart, support is at our recent low of $6.35 with other notable longer-term lows at the $6.12 early August low and then the $5.69 July low. Resistance is at the $6.56 20-day moving average, which we faded from earlier in the week. SOYBEANS: Soybean trade is 3 to 4 cents higher with trade showing two-sided action after the pullback Thursday while meal continues to lead the product complex. Meal is 9.50 to 10.50 higher while oil is 120 to 130 points lower keeping crush margins range bound. Brazil looks to remain in good shape short term, while the Argentina improvement maybe fleeting with hotter and dry weather expected to continue short term. The daily export wire remained quiet to end the week. Basis remains mostly sideways near term. January chart support is at the $14.56 20-day with resistance at the $14.98 upper Bollinger band and then the $14.93 3/4 2-month high, scored last Friday. WHEAT: Wheat trade is 2 to 10 cents lower with Chicago action leading as trade consolidates further in the lower end of the range to close the week. The southern plains look to remain mostly dry short term with cooler and wetter potential the second week for the north and east as the crop heads towards dormancy. Southern Hemisphere harvest continues to move ahead with mixed results so far. Matif wheat values have faded further this week as they sit at recent lows as the premium to US origin narrows. On the chart, KC March has support at the lower Bollinger band at $8.16 and the fresh low at 8.27 scored last week still above those levels. Resistance is at the $8.76 20-day. David Fiala can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @davidfiala (c) Copyright 2022 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.