The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1538 ET - U.S. natural gas futures relinquish intraday gains and settle fractionally lower despite a 32 Bcf weekly inventory build that landed at the low end of market estimates. "With today's supportive storage report and temperature forecasts looking conducive to even stronger power burn in the coming weeks, the market appears to have found a near-term bottom," Andy Huenefeld of Pinebrook Energy Advisors says in a note. "Hot weather in Texas, against a backdrop of waning wind generation output, is likely to drive stronger natural gas demand during the periods covered by the next several storage reports." Nymex natural gas for August delivery settles down 0.3% at $2.916/mmBtu, while contracts further out post gains.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1533 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME settle up 0.7% to 88.925 cents a pound. The most-active contract gained after the USDA reported higher weekly export sales for U.S. pork exports this morning, with 28,800 metric tons sold for the week ended July 16. That's up 33% from the prior week, and 12% from the 4-week average. Mexico was the largest buyer for the week, purchasing roughly half of that total. Live cattle futures settled up 1% to $2.25425 a pound, ahead of two consequential reports due to be published on Friday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1509 ET - Crude futures extend gains with Brent settling above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months as Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, threatening a key alternative shipping route to the Strait of Hormuz. "This has a double hit. It further reduces exports from the Middle East, but it also means the alternative route for cargoes traveling to Europe (around South Africa) is significantly longer," Ellen Fraser, an energy analyst at consulting firm Baringa says in a note. The added threat to supply comes as global stocks are low, including in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, she adds. "Globally oil could go higher ... and that's quite likely unless things calm soon." Brent rises 7% to $100.69 a barrel, its highest close since May 22. WTI settles up 6.2% at $92.19, the highest since June 4. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1503 ET - Front-month gold and silver futures both decline, with gold falling 2.4% to $4,046.50 a troy ounce and silver down 3.7% to $57.798/oz. Sentiment around precious metals seems to be turning the corner -- with central banks seen coming back with demand for gold. That may not immediately help prices, with Max Layton of Citi Research proposing in a research note one scenario where gold prices fall another 15%-20%. But if that were to happen, Layton then expects gold prices would double from there -- jumping past the $6,000/oz mark and potentially setting a new record high. "The longer-term outlook is very bullish, underpinned by numerous factors including China's large trade surplus, China's central bank buying, rising global fiscal sustainability issues, and high levels of global geopolitical tensions," says Layton. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1336 ET - CBOT grain futures pare some gains from this morning, although corn and soybeans are still up for the day. Geopolitical factors remain a risk point for grain prices, with any additional news of elevated hostilities between the U.S./Iran and Russia/Ukraine along with disrupted shipping channels likely lifting futures. But some traders also think that this week's rally could be overplayed. "The market is getting a bit top heavy though and more susceptible to profit taking," says Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting. This is being felt in wheat futures, with the most-active contract down 0.5%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1248 ET - Brent crude's rise above $100 could prompt leaders to seek de-escalation, Lombard Odier's Nannette Hechler-Fayd'herbe says. Rational actors in the U.S. and Iran will push both sides toward the negotiating table, with U.S. Republicans wary of midterm elections, and Tehran eager to ease economic sanctions, the investment strategist says. "Everyone has their own perennity in sight." Lombard Odier continues to expect the Federal Reserve to avoid a rate hike this year, and the latest escalation in the Gulf hasn't changed the investment group's oil outlook. Brent crude oil trades 6.6% higher at $100.26 a barrel, while WTI rises 5.9% to $91.91 a barrel. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
1216 ET - The backwardation in crude oil futures as WTI moves above $90 a barrel points to a retreat from current highs once military action in the Middle East ends, says Pavel Molchanov, investment strategy analyst at Raymond James. "The oil market's futures curve is, once again, steeply downward-sloping," he says. "WTI's November contract is below $85, January 2027 below $80, and May 2027 below $75." Raymond James's base case is for the fighting to end by mid-August, and "we expect all of these prices to shift further down," Molchanov adds. Front-month WTI is up 5.8% at $91.90 a barrel and Brent gains 6.6% to $100.26.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1156 ET - The falling availability of oil from the Persian Gulf is likely to support crude prices in coming weeks, although immediate demand seems to have been met with the supply surge that occurred under the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, Vikas Dwivedi of Macquarie Group says in a note. "The reintroduction of geopolitical risk premium has driven the recent rally along with a short squeeze propelled by historically high short interest prior to the ceasefire's collapse," he says. Macquarie assigns a "medium probability" of modest escalation from here, "but a low probability for a return to a large-scale conflict, absent a serious miscalculation by either side." WTI is up 6.5% at $92.44 a barrel and Brent is up 6.8% at $100.82.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1142 ET - Hotter and drier weather in the Corn Belt, particularly in the U.S. Plains, is squeezing limited soil moisture out of the region's fields -- stressing the health of growing row crops. "The Central U.S. forecast is adverse," says Daniel Flynn of Price Futures Group in a note. "A prolonged period of rapid net soil moisture loss lies ahead, and in the last 24 hours the principal forecasting models have trended warmer across US Plains and Western Corn Belt next week." Today's update to the U.S. Drought Monitor map shows spreading dry conditions in the eastern Corn Belt, which has mostly received adequate rainfall to support crops. CBOT corn and soybeans are higher today, although gains have been pared back since the start of the session. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1119 ET - A jump in Treasury yields looks to make tight farmer budgets even harder to traverse. "For agriculture, this is the wrong rate shock at the wrong time," says Jim Wiesemeyer of Ag Bull in a note. Wiesemeyer notes that borrowing costs for farming have begun to ease, but higher yields have reignited fears around future rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Farmers have been dealing with higher input costs, which in turn has inflated the size of the operating loans that they take out ahead of the growing season. "Ag bankers have reported falling loan repayment rates for eight consecutive quarters as three years of thin crop margins drain working capital," says Wiesemeyer. "So rising benchmarks feed straight into renewal-season stress." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1051 ET - U.S. natural gas inventories rose by 32 billion cubic feet last week, an increase that was roughly in line with the five-year average and with expectations. At 3,056 Bcf, gas in underground storage was 183 Bcf above the 2021-2025 average and 16 Bcf below the year-earlier level, the EIA reports. The weekly increase--the smallest so far of the current injection season--landed between the 30 Bcf average for the week and the 34 Bcf estimate in a WSJ survey of analysts. Nymex natural gas futures are up 0.5% at $2.940/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1033 ET - Live cattle futures are higher in early trading ahead of two reports due out from the USDA tomorrow -- the monthly Cattle on Feed report and the biannual Cattle Inventory report. The combination of both may provide CME futures with a short-term boost. "Many [are] anticipating still lower inventories as drought conditions across much of cattle country could lead to culling of cows and feeding out instead of retaining heifers," says Jason Franken of the University of Missouri in a research note. This and resilient U.S. consumer demand may support a rebound in cattle prices going forward, says Franken - although signs of efforts to rebuild herds could become a leading pressure point for prices. Lean hogs are down 0.5%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 23, 2026 16:15 ET (20:15 GMT)
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