The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1201 ET - Dutch Bros continues to ramp up its competition with Starbucks, announcing that it will start selling packaged coffee and other goods in retail. The chain said that it has struck a licensing deal with Trilliant Food & Nutrition to sell the goods. Starbucks is a major seller of packaged coffee in retail. Dutch Bros is outlining further growth plans during the increasingly competitive coffee segment in its first investor event Thursday. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)
1108 ET - U.S. natural gas storage rose by 37 billion cubic feet last week to 1,744 Bcf in a second straight weekly injection, leaving inventories 122 Bcf or 6.5% below the five-year average, the EIA reports. The injection compared with a five-year average withdrawal for the week of 31 Bcf, and reduced the deficit from 190 Bcf the week before. Stocks were 557 Bcf lower than a year ago. Analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey had predicted a 26 Bcf increase in storage for last week. Natural gas futuresare lower following the report, with the Nymex front month off 1.2% at $3.816/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1045 ET - With the USDA's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report due out this afternoon, lean hog futures on the CME are lower in early trading, down 2%. The continuous contract has been mostly positive since switching the most-active month, finishing three out of the last four trading sessions higher. Export sales reported by the USDA this morning were 77% higher than the previous week, at 31,900 metric tons. But, as analysts with StoneX point out, the split of exports going to Mexico versus elsewhere appears to be growing larger--suggesting that any further tariff action by President Trump towards Mexico could severely impact U.S. pork demand. Live cattle futures are down 0.5%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1002 ET - Natural gas futures are mixed ahead of today's April expiration with the market looking to the EIA's storage report, which is expected to show a second weekly inventory build to confirm an early start to the injection season. "After three bearish EIA surprises in the past four weeks, the market still appears to be struggling to get an accurate grasp of underlying fundamental balances," Eli Rubin of EBW Analytics says in a note. Analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey estimate a 26 Bcf injection to raise storage to 1,733 Bcf, or about 7% below the five-year average. The Nymex April contract is up 0.1% at $3.864/mmBtu, and gas for May delivery is practically unchanged at $3.871/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0950 ET - Oil futures are trading near flat with the impending threat of U.S. trade tariffs weighing against the supply concerns around U.S. sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan crude. Futures are trying to hold this week's $2 a barrel rally spurred by the U.S. sanctions "versus the new tariffs that are supposed to come into the market next week," BOK Financial's Dennis Kissler says in a note. The WTI May contract is testing resistance at the 50-day and 200-day moving averages around $70.09 and $70.50, he says. "A solid close above turns the longer-term trend back to the bulls and targets the $73 area." WTI is off 0.1% at $69.59 a barrel, and Brent is down 0.2% at $73.66 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0923 ET - Monday's Prospective Planting report from the USDA is expected to show a jump in farmer intentions to plant corn acres from the previous year--and a drop in how many soybean acres they intend to plant. If the USDA cuts planted soybean acres more than the market expects, then CBOT soybeans may surge, says Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. "The planting intentions report has the potential to be pretty interesting for the soybean market," says Pfitzenmaier. "If the planted acreage comes in lower than expected, it could generate a nice recovery rally in soybeans." Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week forecast planted soybeans to land around 83.76 million acres, down from 87.05 million acres last year. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0729 ET - Indosuez Wealth Management maintains a cautious approach to duration, keeping a slight underweight on both U.S. and European government bonds. The wealth manager anticipates a slowdown in U.S. economic activity in 2025, without giving into pessimism, "as fears of recession seem exaggerated," it says in a note. It still expects two rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. The "nerve point" for markets has been tariffs policy. U.S. equity markets have largely moved past the "Trump Trade" and the optimistic expectations around Trump's second term, it says. Indosuez remains positive on the dollar, viewing it as a hedging asset in its portfolio and continues to favor gold. The 10-year Treasury yield is up 3.5 basis points at 4.371%, according to Tradeweb. (emese.bartha@wsj.com)
0642 ET - Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange continue to trade at a record discount to futures contracts on New York's Comex, with the spread creating significant incentives for traders to ship to the U.S. ahead of expected tariffs. LME three-month copper is down 0.9% at $9,839 a metric ton, while U.S. prices spiked to fresh all-time highs on Wednesday following a Bloomberg report saying that the Trump administration aims to introduce levies within weeks instead of months. U.S. President Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all copper imports and instructed the Commerce Department to investigate copper import tariffs on national security grounds. "The U.S. copper rush could leave the rest of the world tight on copper if demand picks up more quickly than expected," analysts at ING say. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
0607 ET - Palm oil prices closed higher, with the Bursa Malaysia derivatives contract for June delivery closing 54 ringgit higher at 4,313 ringgit a ton. Concerns over output and stronger soybean oil prices are lifting sentiment in the market, said David Ng, a trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. Ng sees support for CPO prices at 4,250 ringgit/ton and resistance at 4,450 ringgit/ton. Bargain buying in palm oil is the real driver at the moment but the absence of fresh destination buying is capping gains, said Sunvin Group India analyst Anilkumar Bagani. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0536 ET - European natural-gas prices edge higher in early trade after Russia indicated that the Sudzha cross-border gas point might require lengthy repairs. The benchmark Dutch TTF contract is up 0.5% at 41.10 euros a megawatt hour, following a decline in the previous session amid Black Sea cease-fire talks, warmer weather forecasts and ample LNG supplies. According to TASS, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said restoration of the gas metering station in the Kursk region--which until Jan. 1 was carrying Russian gas to Europe--will require "a fairly long time." "Russian gas flows through Ukraine are unlikely to return in time for summer injection season," Rabobank's energy strategist Florence Schmit says. Meanwhile, the EU ban on Russian LNG transshipments kicked in, mainly affecting Russia's Yamal LNG project, which supplies both Europe and Asia. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
0507 ET - Gold prices rise 0.8% in early trade, boosted by tariff uncertainties and a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape keeping investors on edge. Futures rise to $3,046.40 a troy ounce, hovering close to their record high of $3,065.20/oz. "Gold remains the most reliable hedge against the Trump tariffs," Swissquote Bank's senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya says. President Trump on Wednesday announced 25% tariffs on all auto imports--expanding a global trade war that economists fear could slow growth and stoke inflation--and is expected to add reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trade partners next week. Traders are now waiting to see how the dollar will react to Friday's personal-consumption-expenditures price index data. However, "this print won't matter much given that we just heard from Powell last week--the Fed isn't in a hurry, tariff inflation is 'transitory'," analysts at Peak Trading Research say. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
0445 ET - Oil prices slip in early trade as traders weigh the impact on global demand of U.S. President Trump's 25% tariffs on all imported cars and trucks. Brent crude is down 0.3% at $72.81, while WTI falls 0.4% to $69.39 a barrel. Crude futures settled 1% higher in the previous trading sessions, driven by concerns over tightening supplies amid U.S. pressure on Iranian and Venezuelan exports and declining U.S. inventories. Traders now await the White House's announcement of reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners due on Wednesday. "Until clarity emerges on the magnitude and scope of tariffs and their implementation, risk appetite is likely to remain muted," analysts at ANZ Research say. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 27, 2025 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)
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