The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1156 ET - Benchmark U.S. natural gas prices were 6% lower this summer than in 2025 despite unusually hot weather that drove up air-conditioning demand, the EIA says in a note. Henry Hub prices averaged $2.93/mmBtu from June through August. "Increased renewable electricity generation, record natural gas production, and ample natural gas inventories helped limit upward pressure on prices," the agency says, while maintenance at LNG terminals curbed demand growth. Natural gas-fired electricity generation increased by 7.5 billion kilowatt hours from the same period in 2025, while solar grew by 19.4 billion kWh and wind power by 9.3 billion kWh. "We estimate that additions in renewable capacity and generation reduced the amount of natural gas needed to meet higher summer electricity demand," the EIA adds. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1119 ET - Gold futures are higher after four sessions of declines as the U.S. dollar slips and oil prices tread water awaiting clarity on U.S.-Iran diplomacy. "A stronger dollar not only weighs on gold because the metal is priced in U.S. dollars, but also reflects the flow of global liquidity toward U.S. assets, particularly in an environment of rising yields and growing expectations that interest rates will remain elevated," Rania Gule of XS.com says in a note. "I believe any meaningful short-term recovery in gold will first require genuine signs of weakness in the dollar, rather than merely a temporary pause in its advance." Gold for December delivery is up 0.4% in New York at $4,315.50 a troy ounce. Silver is up 1.1% at $64.705 a troy ounce. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1102 ET - An unprecedented global capex cycle drives the resilient U.S. expansion fueling recent market trends, Deutsche Bank's George Saravelos says in a note. AI and government spending underpin the cycle, which Saravelos says constitutes a rare event. "CapEx booms tend to be sustained, multi-year events," he says, adding that the current capex boom may be one of the largest after World War II reconstruction and it could last for years. However, the dollar has trended weaker through previous capex cycles. "We would not chase the dollar higher after the last few weeks' repricing," Saravelos says. The WSJ Dollar Index falls 0.3%. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)
1057 ET - The Trump administration says that it will announce news from the Thursday U.S.-China summit in Washington next week. Speaking to CNBC, USTR Jamieson Greer says that new trade agreements for certain goods were reached during the summit, with details coming on Monday. Greer did not specify what goods were discussed, with agriculture and rare earths among the numerous goods expected to have been discussed. The grains market will be watching for what gets announced next week, but until that confirmation exists futures are little moved. Most-active CBOT corn futures are down 1.3%, soybeans fall 1%, and wheat is down 2.4%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1049 ET - Oil futures are lower with the market cautiously weighing diplomatic efforts seeking a U.S.-Iran agreement on the Strait of Hormuz. "Although diplomatic progress suggests the potential for further declines in crude prices, physical tightness is preventing a more decisive sell-off," Konstantinos Chrysikos of Kudo.com says in a note. "Caution remains as energy infrastructure in the Middle East is vulnerable to any new escalations." WTI is off 1.4% at $93.32 a barrel and Brent is down 1.2% at $105.35. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1034 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME are up 0.1% following Thursday's quarterly Hogs and Pigs report showing a larger-than-anticipated decrease to total U.S. hog inventories, with lower breeding and marketing figures as well. Analysts say the data was friendly for hog futures, although they're barely in positive territory. "The 'problem' with the weak market at current isn't hog supply in our opinion, but rather on the demand side of the equation," says StoneX in a note. Live cattle futures fall 0.1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0927 ET - U.S. natural gas futures are giving back some of the previous session's hefty gains that were largely due to an interruption on a TC Energy pipeline in West Virginia. "It now appears that this outage could prove brief," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. "Yesterday's price response to the pipeline outage was likely exacerbated by a continued heavy speculative presence on the short side of this market, where participants have likely been lulled to sleep by what has been a sizable storage cushion across the past summer." Yesterday's EIA report showed the storage surplus shrinking for a sixth consecutive week, and further reductions are likely as heat has lingered across much of the southern U.S., the firm adds. Nymex natural gas is down 4.6% at $3.147/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0919 ET - CBOT grain futures are lower after President Trump and Chinese leader Xi's summit in Washington wraps up with no new announcements on agricultural purchases. "Bull markets need to be fed daily, and no fresh news means a price correction to the downside has started," says Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing in a note. Blohm adds that "any correction lower will be short lived, due to overall smaller grain supplies globally," making the lower prices a potential buying opportunity for traders. Most-active corn falls 2.3% overnight, soybeans slide 1.3%, and wheat is down 2.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0645 ET - Glencore shares are attractively priced after a roughly 15% fall from recent highs, UBS analyst Myles Allsop writes as he upgrades the stock to buy from neutral. The target price rises to 6.50 pounds from 6.20 pounds. Shares in the commodity giant have fallen due to macroeconomic risks, coal prices and governance concerns surrounding Radiant World, he says. The risk/reward profile is now more positive, he says, citing a strong performance in Glencore's marketing division and exposure to rising commodity prices. Shares could also be set for a rerating soon as Glencore's copper expansion plans become more visible, he says. Overall, cash flow and returns over the remainder of the year are set to be strong as commodity prices rise and Glencore disposes of some assets, he adds. Shares rise 1.5% to 5.57 pounds. (adam.whittaker@wsj.com)
0606 ET - Palm-oil futures ended lower, weighed down by weaker soybean oil and crude oil prices, says David Ng, a trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. The oils often trade in tandem as they are used for similar purposes. A stronger ringgit added further pressure to the palm-oil market, he adds. Ng expects prices to find support at 4,600 ringgit a ton and face resistance at 4,750 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for December delivery fell 99 ringgit to 4,673 ringgit a ton. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0527 ET - ArcelorMittal faces a small downside risk to its third-quarter earnings due to being unable to safely restart its Ukrainian site, J.P. Morgan's Dominic O'Kane says. The company will record a non-cash impairment of around $1 billion, which is not expected to impact earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. However, JPM sees a risk of higher EBITDA losses in the "other" segment, which includes the Ukraine operation. The contribution of the site to group profit is relatively small, the analyst notes. Wider disruption at Ukrainian steelmaking sites could positively impact European steel prices, JPM noted. Shares are up 2.2%. (michael.hennessey@wsj.com)
0345 ET - London's miners gain after oil prices ease. Brent crude and WTI fall as investors assess the likelihood that U.S.-Iran diplomatic efforts could reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Miners are some of the world's largest consumers of diesel and higher prices eat into margins. High oil prices also raise the prospect of interest rate rises to combat inflation. This would hurt investment and consumer sentiment, and drag on demand for mined minerals and metals. With sentiment improved, Glencore rises 2% while Anglo American gains 1.3%. Antofagasta is 0.9% higher. Precious metal miners Fresnillo, Hochschild Mining and Endeavour Mining all gain over 1.2%. Brent crude futures are down 1.1% to $105.45 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate falls 1.9% to $92.85 a barrel.
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