The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1959 GMT - Crude futures settle higher in a choppy session ahead of the U.S. Labor Day long weekend, closing out a week of gains that saw the resumption of U.S. strikes on Iranian targets and Iranian attacks on shipping. Oil price gains have been tempered by limited flows getting through the Strait of Hormuz, although differences remain on how much oil is making it out. A bigger-than-expected 4.5 million barrel draw in U.S. crude stocks reported midweek by the EIA added upside pressure. WTI settles up 0.2% at $91.48 a barrel, up 9.7% on the week. Brent rises 0.8% to $96.28, or 9.3% higher than a week ago.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1935 GMT - Lean hog futures settle down 2.1% to 72.4 cents a pound, extending the trend lower that started in July. Sliding cutout prices have been a factor pressuring hog futures, but prices reported at midday by the USDA inched higher. Average carcass cutout prices rose 14 cents per hundredweight, to $91.26 per cwt. Further weakness may be ahead for hog futures, says the Hightower Report in a note. "A further pullback is possible for the October contract as prices are struggling with 50-day moving average resistance," says the firm. Live cattle settle down 0.6% to $2.14925 a pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1930 GMT - U.S. natural gas futures rise as the weather outlook remains hot enough through Labor Day and next week, keeping up demand for cooling. The late summer heat wave is power-burn weather, Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group says in a note. "It's not a polar vortex and it's not going to empty the sheds by itself, but when you're sitting on $2.90 gas and the country is still running air conditioners like it's July, every extra degree is a bid." Nymex natural gas settles up 2.1% at $2.9750/mmBtu for a 3% weekly gain. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1900 GMT - U.S. diesel prices hit a record-high $5.85 a gallon, according to AAA, and with U.S. refineries running flat out there's little more they can do at the margin to help ease the tightness in global products supply, BCA Research's chief commodities strategist Roukaya Ibrahim says. U.S. refineries operated at 98% of capacity last week, the EIA reported. Unlike China, which is giving priority to domestic crude supply, in the U.S. the energy producers are much more responsive to market conditions, she says. "Because the crack spread is wide, that really does improve their profit margins, so refineries are taking advantage of that." (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1837 GMT - Gold futures fell as U.S. payrolls increased well above expectations in August, pushing up short-term Treasury yields and raising expectations of a possible September Fed hike. President Trump, however, called for lower interest rates following the employment report. "A resilient labor market would give the Fed permission to move rates higher at the September meeting if upcoming August inflation data does not show continued improvement, but that political pressure to maintain lower rates looms in the background," Mike Castle of StoneX says in a note. Front month gold settles down 1.4% at $4,429.80 a troy ounce for a 1.1% loss on the week. Silver falls 1.4% to $66.047, also a 1.4% weekly loss. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1759 GMT - The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by 2 this week to 449, and was up by 35 from a year ago, oil services company Baker Hughes reports. The rise in the rig count since the start of the U.S.-Iran conflict has coincided with U.S. crude production reaching record highs near 13.9 million barrels a day. The EIA projects production to increase to 14.2 million barrels a day in 2027. Rigs directed at natural gas slipped by 2 this week to 130, or 12 more than a year ago.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1751 GMT - The fact that U.S. envoys are going to Kyiv to engage Ukrainian officials on a peace deal is pressuring CBOT wheat. "Though U.S. efforts to negotiate a settlement have yet to produce a path to peace, in his nightly address Thursday Zelensky said that preliminary dates have been set for meetings in both Moscow and Kyiv," says Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing in a note. The war has disrupted exports from the Black Sea region and the amount of wheat leaving Russia for the 2026/27 marketing year is well behind where it was at this time last year, according to data from SovEcon. Wheat falls 2.3%, while corn is off 0.7% and soybeans drop 0.4%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1731 GMT - Gold futures claw back some of the losses made in the wake of the 162,000 increase in August payrolls that caused short-term Treasury yields to spike and strengthened the dollar, increasing expectations for a Fed interest-rate increase this month. The market will be closely watching next week's U.S. August CPI data. "An end to the disinflationary trend seen in June and July would signal a rate hike," BankPro CEO Paolo Broccardo says in a note. But if inflation continues to slow, "this would deal a blow to the U.S. dollar and accelerate the rally in gold, Bitcoin and the S&P500." Gold for December delivery is down 1.3% in New York at $4,481.20 a troy ounce. Silver is off 1.4% at $66.74 a troy ounce. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1642 GMT - Oil refining margins have probably peaked and should ease over coming months as increased crude supply out of the Middle East is likely to support an increase in Chinese refinery runs, says Roukaya Ibrahim, chief commodity strategist at BCA Research. Diesel prices could see some sort of stabilization, but there won't likely be a meaningful drop until the Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and the Strait of Hormuz crisis are resolved, she says. Dark transits through the strait are benefiting crude more than refined products, Ibrahim notes, leaving the products market tighter than crude. "So the crack spreads will remain wide, but I think China is probably going to help on the margin." (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1549 GMT - The Corn Belt is entering the long weekend with high heat locked in -- hitting crops that are on the mature side, but are still weeks out from the start of harvesting. Temperatures are seen entering the weekend going as high as 109°F in Oklahoma and northern Texas, says Jim Wiesemeyer of Ag Bull Trading in a note. Wiesemeyer adds that next week's trading may depend largely on if forecasted rainfall arrives to the areas being hit by scalding heat now. "The latest 11-15 day outlook calls for the upper-level ridge to flatten enough to allow above-normal rainfall chances to expand across portions of the Plains and western Corn Belt," he says. Corn and soybean futures are now flat on the CBOT, while wheat is down 1.5%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1532 GMT - CBOT grains are lower ahead of the long weekend, with the USDA and CBOT closed in observance of Labor Day on Monday. Traders are accounting for heightened risk for the long weekend including macro factors like wars in Russia versus Ukraine and U.S. versus Iran. They're also accounting for this afternoon's Commitment of Traders report from the USDA to show even higher net long positions in grain futures, particularly corn, says Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in a note. Most-active corn futures fall 0.2%, soybeans are down 0.1%, and wheat slides 1.8%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1434 GMT - Live cattle futures are up 0.5%, continuing a rebound as grain futures turn lower--making feed costs more affordable. "Cattle and feeder cattle futures marked strong gains on Thursday, and a firm outlook is offered for early trade today," says AgResource in a note. "The rally underscored the importance of feed costs." Lean hogs drop 1.5%.
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