The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1535 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME have now settled lower for nine consecutive sessions, finishing today down 1% to $2.353 a pound. This makes it the lowest cattle futures have finished at since March 26. The losing streak comes as part of a longer-term move off of record-high cattle futures seen this spring. The USDA reported another slide in boxed beef prices, with choice cuts falling another $1.38 per hundredweight to $379.82 per cwt. Slaughter rates will have to ease in order to spur wholesale prices to rebound, says Christopher Swift of Swift Trading Co. in a note. Lean hog futures settled down 1.5% to 98.125 cents a pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1516 ET - U.S. natural gas futures post their biggest single-day drop in more than three months as a larger-than-expected inventory build is followed by news of maintenance to be carried out at Freeport LNG in Texas. Last week's 61 Bcf storage injection increased the inventory surplus over the five-year average to 185 Bcf from 175 Bcf the week before. "Surpluses are expected to drop towards 150 Bcf or slightly under after the next several EIA reports account for the current hot U.S. pattern," NatGasWeather.com says in a note. "However, as we have seen with today's EIA report, wind generation can significantly alter anticipated build sizes." Nymex natural gas settles down 6.2% at $3.012/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
Oil futures retreat on hopes the U.S. and Iran could go back to talks after the current flare-up and exchange of strikes. Reports that Iran's foreign minister spoke with other regional leaders and Pakistani mediators raises hopes for a return to negotiations. "It appears the Iranians are reaching out to everybody who negotiated the original cease-fire deal in an effort to walk back the current state of affairs and get to some new normal that will kickstart negotiations and at the same time open the Strait of Hormuz to something approaching normal levels," Robert Yawger of Mizuho says in a note. "I look for a return to negotiations in coming days, and back to the threat of an oversupplied crude oil market shortly thereafter." WTI settles down 2% at $72.08 a barrel and Brent falls 2.2% to $76.30. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1433 ET - Gold and silver futures settled the day higher in response to a shifting outlook toward inflation through the second half. According to minutes released by the Federal Reserve Wednesday, the Fed says that it foresees inflation rising, while the labor market shows weakness. This creates an environment where cutting the interest rate could become a possibility this year, according to the Fed. Lower interest rates are supportive for precious metal futures. "[There's] potential for renewed tightening if inflation persists," Rhona O'Connell of StoneX says in a note. Front-month gold closed up 1.5% to $4,130.60 a troy ounce, while silver added 3.8% to finish at $60.378 a troy ounce. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1420 ET - Traders are seen liquidating grain contracts ahead of tomorrow's WASDE report from the USDA. "Funds are long soybeans, which are facing liquidation pressure," says Brian Grete of Commstock Investments. "Corn is being influenced mostly by the pressure on soybeans but wheat is helping limit seller interest." Grete adds that wheat is higher on short-covering. Other analysts also say that projections of lower EU wheat production have traders covering short positions. Most-active CBOT corn falls 1.1%, while soybeans drop 1% and wheat is up 1.8%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1343 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are falling after a larger-than-expected storage build for last week, compounded by reports of planned maintenance at Freeport LNG in Texas. The unexpected maintenance at Freeport temporarily reduces confidence in LNG feedgas demand "at a time when the market needed exports to help offset strong production and elevated inventories," Gelber & Associates says in a note. Natural gas stocks increased by 61 Bcf last week, extending the surplus to 185 Bcf from 175 Bcf, despite the heat wave driving power-sector demand. Nymex natural gas is down 6.4% at $3.007/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1225 ET - The U.S. Drought Monitor shows little change to conditions in U.S. Corn Belt states. Nebraska remains besieged by drought conditions of varying extremity, while portions of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota show slight growth in drought conditions. Grain traders are increasingly focused on weather, as it's a key time for corn pollination. CBOT corn is down 0.4%, while soybeans fall 0.6% and wheat is up 2.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1216 ET -- For U.S. corn crops, the 'pollination' phase is a key time in their development. It's when corn stalks are pollenized via the tassels that have emerged from the plant--which is what allows the ears of corn growing on the stalk to begin producing kernels. "The greatest potential threat to the crop would be extreme heat during pollination," Arlan Suderman of StoneX says in a note. Forecasts are mixed, with the potential for high heat and little precipitation forecast by some models. The USDA forecast seasonable temperatures in its daily forecast published Thursday. "We've seen a notable shift in the model consensus over the past 24 hours toward the wetter and more moderate solutions," says Suderman. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1151 ET -- Wheat futures have turned around in morning trade, with the most-active contract now up 1.9% for the day. Hot weather in Europe continues to be a factor supporting wheat prices, analysts say. "Conditions are good in the U.S. Midwest, but Europe has been too hot," says Jack Scoville of Price Futures Group in a note. Prices for European wheat have been on the rise in reaction to hot weather hitting growing areas in France and other parts of the EU, which is in turn supporting CBOT wheat futures. CBOT corn is down 0.4% in Thursday's session, while soybeans fall 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1128 ET - Multiple models are likely being used for exchanges implementing 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks, says Zach Pandl of Grayscale Research in a note. What's most prevalent now is the model where tokenized stocks are not representative of actual ownership of a stock, but still serve as a vehicle for trading on the movements of the underlying stock on DeFi platforms. These vehicles are using blockchains that are designed for easy use on these DeFi platforms, which may provide support for their native cryptocurrencies going forward. What may further support these blockchains, which include ethereum, solana, BNB, and avalanche among others, is stocks being issued directly by the underlying companies onto their chosen blockchains - which Pandl says can also bolster prices. Most major cryptocurrencies are rebound in today's trade. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1127 ET - Oil futures turn lower with the market leaning toward expectations of a quick end to the latest military strikes between the U.S. and Iran. "We expect the renewed tension in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran to be relatively short-lived because both countries are constrained by practical economic and political realities," Vikas Dwivedi of Macquarie Group says in a note. For the U.S., there's the risk of higher prices returning with fewer mitigation sources available, and the risk of Iran materially damaging the Middle East's oil infrastructure, he says. Iran has arguably negotiated a "great deal," Dwivedi adds, and "we would be surprised if they overplay a good hand and test President Trump's patience and restraint for minimal remaining gain." WTI is down 1.5% at $72.44 a barrel and Brent is off 1.3% at $77.03. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1104 ET - U.S. natural gas futures deepen losses as the EIA reports a larger-than-expected build in inventories for last week, increasing the surplus over the five-year average. Gas in underground storage facilities rose by 61 billion cubic feet to 2,983 Bcf, expanding the surplus to 185 Bcf from 175 Bcf the week before. The inventory build was above the 51 Bcf average for 2021-2025 period, and larger than the 51 Bcf estimate in a Wall Street Journal survey of analysts. Nymex natural gas is down 4.7% at $3.061/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 09, 2026 16:15 ET (20:15 GMT)
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