The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1204 ET - U.S. distillate inventories saw some relief last week, rising by 1.5 million barrels to 102.3 million barrels and pulling away from the 100-million-barrel level that hasn't been breached to the downside since 2003. Still, if the downward inventory trend continues through the summer, stocks could reach "especially low levels" by 4Q with resulting pressure on diesel prices even if pressure comes off the underlying price of crude, says Matt Muenster of transportation technology firm Breakthrough. "For many businesses such as manufacturers and trucking companies, the recent inventory trends and what they suggest for Q3-Q4 2026 make it wise to continue budgeting for very high diesel prices."(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1114 ET - U.S. commercial crude oil stocks fall for a sixth straight week as export demand remains high. Inventories were down by 8 million barrels at 433.7 million barrels, with an additional 8 million barrels released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. "The oil tanks are getting emptier each week Hormuz stays closed," says David Russell of TradeStation. "Another huge drop in the SPR shows how hard the government is working to cushion the blow of the massive supply shocks in the Middle East. Price pressures are growing into the summer." WTI is up 2.1% at $95.68 a barrel and Brent rises 1.7% to $97.67 following a renewed exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1018 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME are lower despite confirmation from the USDA yesterday that New World Screwworm cases are closing in on the U.S./Mexico border. "Another new screwworm detection just 25 miles south of the U.S. border prompted Ag Sec. Rollins to announce new border updates will occur every few days," says the Hightower Report in a note. "But interestingly, feeders did not rally significantly off the news." The firm adds that the technical outlook for cattle appears to be degrading, and expects that to continue. Most-active live cattle is down 1.5%, while lean hogs are off 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1015 ET - Grain futures are bouncing off of technical support, says Matt Zeller of StoneX. "The grains and oilseeds remain under fundamental pressure thanks to a mostly solid start to the 2026 growing season, and widespread rains on the way over the next week or so," says Zeller in a note. He adds that fund traders continue to hold net long positions in grains, giving them room to move down further. Most-active CBOT corn futures are down 0.5%, while soybeans rise 0.2% and wheat is off 0.1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1014 ET - Gold prices dip in afternoon trading on expectations that war-driven inflation will keep interest rates high. "The losing run for gold continues, as investors price out expectations of a more accommodative Fed against the backdrop of this year's inflation resurgence amid the oil price spike and recent strength in U.S. data," says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com. "If more evidence of economic resilience emerges this week, or we see increased tensions and oil prices go even higher, gold could drop towards the $4,000 area." New York futures are down 0.9% to $4,477.60 a troy ounce. Focus is now on the U.S. jobs report due on Friday for more cues on the path of interest rates. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
1002 ET - Comments from a U.S. government official regarding China's purchases of U.S. soybeans, has the oilseeds leading grain futures higher. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Stephen Vaden said during the WSJ Global Food Forum that he expects China to honor its pledge to buy more American soybeans this year, and that China is in the process of making new purchases. But the U.S. grain market won't be convinced until the USDA's weekly export sales reports start to show China making sizable purchases, says Jim Wiesemeyer of Ag Bull Trading. "The comments are notable because they suggest China may already be entering the U.S. market despite unfavorable price relationships," he says in a note. Soybeans are up 0.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0954 ET - Crude oil prices are up over $95 a barrel, moving back towards the $100 mark as Iran and the U.S. once again exchange fire--seemingly moving the timeline backwards for reaching a peace deal and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Higher crude oil had been a catalyst for rising grain futures, due to grains' usage in renewable fuels, although grains don't seem to be getting as much of a boost from higher oil as they had in previous months. "A rallying crude oil market hasn't stopped the bleeding on our commodity markets," says Matt Bennett of AgMarket.net in a note. Corn down 0.5%, soybeans rise 0.2%, and wheat is off 0.1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0945 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are slightly lower with the market awaiting a recovery in LNG feedgas flows after maintenance and higher weather-driven demand into the weekend and next week. More cooling demand is being added to forecasts, Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note. "Still with latest drop in LNG demand and current storage at a 6.2% premium to the five-year average, traders remain in a sell-the-rally mentality," he says. Nymex natural gas is off 0.5% at $3.152/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0907 ET - Oil futures are rising for a third session after further exchanges of fire between the U.S. Iran, sowing more doubt about the likelihood of an agreement being reached soon to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The latest round of attacks adds risk premium and renders the ceasefire "almost irrelevant," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. Prospects remain for high prices throughout the summer, "especially given Trump's latest comments that the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could continue to Labor Day," the firm adds. WTI is up 2.5% at $96.13 a barrel and Brent is up 2.3% at $98.19.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0843 ET - Treasurys sell off, sending yields higher, as the Middle East conflict escalates and the U.S. job market strengthens. ADP says private employers added 122,000 in May, beating WSJ consensus of 110,000, with broad-based hiring. Jobless claims tomorrow are expected to be steady and payrolls Friday are forecast to slow down. U.S. and Iran keep trading blows, sparking an oil rally. The WSJ Dollar Index rises 0.1%, extending a pattern of yields and the greenback following oil prices. The 10-year yield reaches 4.491%, up from 4.479% before the jobs data. The two-year rises to 4.082% from 4.070%. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)
0626 ET - Crude palm oil rose after trading resumed from recent public holidays buoyed by strong crude oil and soybean oil prices, according to David Ng, a trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. Expectation of weaker output in the coming weeks is also keeping markets on a positive sentiment, he says. Ng sees prices of crude palm oil supported above 4,500 ringgit a ton and face resistance at 4,750 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for August delivery rose 140 ringgit to 4,675 ringgit a ton. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
0608 ET - Gold's outlook remains positive despite some near-term volatility, according to Julius Baer's Carsten Menke in a research note. Gold has become the number one asset in central banks reserves, thanks to a relentless rise in prices and continued buying from emerging market central banks, the head of next generation research says. "We still see central-bank buying as the strongest structural force in the gold market and expect Western-world investment demand to pick up again," he says. The fundamental backdrop remains favorable although gold's volatility is set to stay elevated as long as the Iran war lasts, he says. Spot gold is down 0.9% at $4,447.39/oz. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2026 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments