DTN Midday Grain Comments 12/19 10:53

DTN Midday Grain Comments 12/19 10:53 Grain Futures Lower Midday Monday Corn, soybean and wheat futures are all lower midday Monday. David M. Fiala DTN Contributing Analyst MARKET SUMMARY: Corn, soybean and wheat futures are all lower midday Monday. The U.S. stock market is lower with the Dow down 23.05 points. The U.S. Dollar Index is down 0.070. CORN: Corn trade is 3 to 4 cents lower with trade fading along with soybeans to start the week, with South American rains short term and little other fresh news to push the market as trade thins out for the end of the year. Outside markets have energies mostly higher and the dollar slightly lower. 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 demand peaks keeping blender margins under pressure. Planting should catch up in Argentina with the improved forecast. The daily export wire was quiet last week with weekly inspections expected to be in the 400,000- to 600,000-metric-ton range. Spread action is flat to start the week. 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 the lower Bollinger Band just below that at $6.33. Resistance is at the $6.55 20-day moving average. SOYBEANS: Soybean trade is 7 to 10 cents lower overnight with trade seeing light selling pressure after weekend rains and an improved forecast in Argentina while strong crush margins will continue to add support. Meal is $9.50 to $10.50 lower and oil is 0.65 cent to 0.75 cent higher. Brazil looks to remain in good shape short term, while the Argentina improvement should continue short term. The daily export wire has been fairly quiet in recent days with weekly inspections expected to be in the 1.5- to 2.0-million-metric-ton range. Basis remains mostly sideways near term. January chart support is at the $14.59 20-day with resistance at the $14.98 upper Bollinger Band and the $14.93 3/4 two-month high. WHEAT: Wheat trade is 3 to 8 cents lower to start the week with early gains fading as Minneapolis wheat leads so far with negative spillover from row crops and little other fresh news. The Southern Plains look to remain mostly dry short term with cooler and wetter potential for the northern growing areas. 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 U.S. origin narrows. Weekly export inspections are expected to be in the 200,000- to 400,000-metric-ton range. On the chart, KC March has support at the lower Bollinger Band at $8.11 and the fresh low at 8.27 still above those levels. Resistance is at the $8.71 20-day. David Fiala can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @davidfiala (c) Copyright 2022 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.