Headlines:
- Today US judge in Pennsylvania rejected Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s request for a recount of the state’s ballots in last month’s presidential election and an examination of voting machines for evidence of hacking.
- ‘Increased competition’ to curtail Australian wheat export growth
“Increased competition” is to prevent Australia’s wheat exports matching the ongoing harvest in setting a record, officials said, although proving more downbeat on domestic price prospects for barley and canola. Abares, the official Australian commodities bureau, hiked by 4.1m tonnes to 22.4m tonnes its forecast for the country’s wheat exports in 2016-17, on a July-to-June basis, citing the boost to supplies from a record harvest. The bureau last week lifted by nearly 4.6m tonnes, to an all-time high 32.6m tonnes, its forecast for Australia’s wheat production this season, thanks to “favorable seasonal conditions” which have “supported above-average to exceptional yields in much of the Australian cropping region”. However, the export forecast, while representing a jump of 42% year on year, remains below the record of 24.66m tonnes set in 2011-12. It is also below a forecast of 23.0m tonnes revealed by the US Department of Agriculture on Friday, in its flagship monthly WASDW briefing on world crop supply and demand.
- Abares lifts cotton price hopes, citing ‘significant’ tightening in supplies
Abares lifted its forecast for cotton prices, although to a level a touch below current values, cautioning over “strong competition” from synthetic fibers for mill demand. The official Australian commodities bureau raised by 3 cents, to 78 cents a pound, its forecast for world cotton prices, as measured by the Cotlook A index, in 2016-17. The upgrade took the forecast above the 75 cents a pound estimated by the International Cotton Advisory Committee earlier this month. However, the forecast suggests little scope for cotton prices to extend their recovery from spring lows, with the Cotlook A on Friday standing at 80.05 cents a pound
Summary:
The cold front that has hit the Midwest is making its way to the East Coast according to weather forecasters. The winterkill concerns that had threatened the Midwest abated some and in overnight trading Wheat futures were under pressure. As the day progressed March Wheat futures reversed its overnight losses and finished the day up 1 tick.
It is approaching the time of year when Fund Managers look to rebalance their portfolios so that those portfolios are in balance with fund mandates. Over the course of the year Soybean has been profitable but Corn and Wheat not so much. Professional traders are always aware of the rebalancing window of early January so we could be seeing some market positioning ahead of the rebalancing. In all likelihood Soybean is currently overweight with Corn and Wheat is probably underweight. Despite intraday weakness both Wheat and Corn managed to finish the day positive. Corn was up 2 ticks on the day.
March Crude Oil futures gapped high and rallied all the way to 56.24 but closed the day just shy of its opening price giving up most of the day’s gains. It was still well into positive territory at the close of the Grain session up about 90 cents but that was it was up as much as 3.04.
