Wheat Encourages Buyers
Wheat futures rebounded
in today’s trading on
the Chicago Board of Trade, responding to encouraging export sales. Corn was
unchanged and soybeans also advanced.
Wheat regained much of its losses from the previous session. Weekly export sales
slightly exceeded expectations and were up 83% from last week. The May
contract
(
WK2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 4 1/4 cents to $2.81 1/2 a bushel
Soybeans also bounced higher but trading was volatile, reflecting weakening
convictions about whether the six-week price rally will extend any further.
May soybeans
(
SK2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 1 cent to $4.59 a bushel.
Corn was up slightly. Buyers were encouraged by solid weekly export, but were
concerned about news that South Korea had purchased corn from China, bypassing
the U.S. product. May corn
(
CK2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was unchanged to $2.05 3/4 a bushel.
Blue chips ended in the red Thursday after the February index of leading
indicators suggested economic activity might sputter out after an initial rally.
The June Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
(
DJM2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed
lower, but put in a late day rally to come off of a potential triple digit loss.
DJM2 closed at 10468.00 a loss of 32.00.
The June Nasdaq 100
(
NDM2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) managed to pull into the plus column late
in the session as previously beaten-down sectors, such as wireless and
semiconductors, rebounded. NDM2 closed at 1494.00 up 39.00.
The June S&P 500 futures
(
SPM2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
formed an inverted head and shoulders on an intraday chart, and then broke above
the 1150 neckline and rolled into positive territory by the end of the session.
SPM2 closed at 1152.70 up .400.
April live cattle
(
LCJ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) suffered its ninth straight day of losses.
Live cattle closed at 70.525 a .42 loss or .59%. Support is at around 70.00.
April crude-oil futures
(
CLJ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) shed 3
cents to $24.87 a barrel in thin trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
April heating oil
(
HOJ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rallied to close at 67.14 cents a gallon a
gain of .57. April unleaded gasoline
(
HUJ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained .98 to 82.90
cents a gallon and April natural gas
(
NGJ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) advanced to $3.400 per
million British thermal units.
Precious metals were trading mostly higher.
April gold
(
GCJ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) on Comex was lifted to a $293.60 high, slipped back
and climbed back up to trade at $293.10 a troy ounce, up .70 on the day. May
silver
(
SIK2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was also trapped in a narrow range today, and ended up
negative 0.8 cent at $4.51 an ounce. April copper
(
HGK2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed at
76.25 down .350.