The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1538 ET - Crude futures settle lower after President Trump waived some new sanctions against Russia, with downside limited by continuing conflict in the Middle East keeping supply risks high. Much of the selling looked technical as Friday's late-session advance "looked mismatched against fresh headlines," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. December Brent settles down 0.3% at $109.55 a barrel, and December WTI falls 0.5% to $98.54. WTI for November rose 2.2% to $103.66 a barrel ahead of Tuesday's contract expiry. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1529 ET - U.S. natural gas futures post back-to-back losses with the market focusing more on a soft near-term outlook for weather-driven demand than solid LNG exports. Despite some additional cold in overnight forecasts, the weather pattern looks "rather bearish" for the next two weeks, NatGasWeather.com says in a note. Other reasons for selling could include "weather patterns taking on an El El Niño-like set up for late October into November to suggest this winter will in fact play out warmer than normal for lighter than normal demand," the forecaster adds. Nymex natural gas settles down 1.9% at $3.0580/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1451 ET - Live cattle futures settle down 0.2% to $2.27975 a pound. This decline snapped a 2-day winning streak, and goes against the general trend, with cattle pushing higher since early September. Cattle has gained 7.6% since Sept. 1, according to data from FactSet. An improvement to underlying fundamentals is behind improved futures prices, says Steiner Consulting Group in a note. "Packer margins have improved dramatically for summer levels and have been in positive territory for at least six weeks," the firm says. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1424 ET - Most-active CBOT corn futures are off 1.6%, bringing the price down to roughly $4.66 a bushel. In a note, AgResource says that corn futures have now fallen below $4.70/a bushel--the level it pegged support at, opening the door for a further downturn. "The market feels bearish as the U.S. harvest pushes strongly ahead amid open weather," says AgResource--with more higher-than-expected yield figures enough to send futures lower. Soybeans fall 0.8% to around $12.51 a bushel, and wheat is down 0.9% to around $6.54 a bushel. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1410 ET - Gold futures settle lower as the U.S. dollar firms, yields rise and oil prices pare early losses. "The relationship between energy prices, inflation expectations, and Federal Reserve policy remains central to gold's near-term direction," Naeem Aslam of Zaye Capital Markets says in a note. Lower oil prices could favor bullion by easing inflationary pressure and expectations for tighter monetary policy, he says. But persistent geopolitical tension and high energy costs could mean interest rates remain restrictive for longer. "This would increase the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing assets such as gold." Front month gold falls 0.5% in New York to $4,139 a troy ounce. Silver loses a couple of cents to $56.974 a troy ounce. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1312 ET - The CME says that it's launching European dairy futures and options contracts before the end of the year, with the contract covering products like milk powder, whey powder, butter, and liquid milk. Dairy markets have been growing in their usage among traders, says the CME. "These products will position CME Group to expand on recent record activity within the Dairy complex, including reaching record monthly open interest of an average 420,922 contracts a day in September, a 42% increase year over year, and an all-time daily open interest record of 461,493 contracts on September 29," says the CME in a note. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1253 ET - Tokenized gold, or trading of gold using blockchain systems, is growing quickly, says the World Gold Council in a note. But it's still only a sliver of the $13 trillion market capitalization of the physical gold market worldwide, says the WGC. "Tokenised gold generated $90 billion of cumulative spot trading volumes in the first quarter of 2026, more than in the whole of 2025," says the WGC. The agency says that there's ample room for the tokenized commodity to grow, unlocking roughly $700B in what the WGC calls 'latent demand.' This demand would come from users of crypto platforms that don't currently have exposure to gold, says the agency. Most-active gold futures are down 0.5% to $4,162 per troy ounce at midday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1228 ET - The pullback in oil futures lacks conviction amid doubts that President Trump's waiving of some new Russia sanctions will do much to increase energy supply. "The big question is: will it work?" Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital says in a note. The waiver could provide temporary relief, "but with the war in Iran and renewed Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries, oil prices are unlikely to decline significantly." They could even surpass last week's highs, he adds. The most active WTI contract is off 0.3% at $98.70 a barrel and Brent is down 0.4% at $109.47. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1217 ET - A downturn in wheat futures that started in early September continues this week, with most-active wheat futures down 0.8%. "Wheat has been the leader to the downside over the last several weeks, with a 7-week streak of losses," says Austin Schroeder of Price Futures Group in a note. Fears around a historically small U.S. wheat crop have subsided, as a new winter wheat crop gets seeded in the U.S. Plains. Corn and soybeans are also lower in trading, with most-active corn down 1.1% and soybeans down 0.7%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1208 ET - Canadian railroads will need to find a new growth driver to replace grain, posing a particular challenge to Canadian National Railway, Raymond James analysts write in a note, downgrading the stock to market perform. "Grain-the dominant growth engine for both carriers through 2026-should remain healthy in absolute terms, but fade rapidly in terms of outsized growth contribution, increasing the importance of replacement growth surfacing elsewhere," the analysts write. While Canadian Pacific Kansas City has solid growth prospects outside of grain, CN Rail has "fewer obvious replacement growth drivers," they write. "The handoff therefore appears more challenging at CN." Shares fall 1.9% to $119.45. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1141 ET - Friday's Commitment of Traders report from the CFTC showed a decrease in long positions held by fund traders in corn and soybean futures. In corn, fund traders cut long positions in corn by nearly 63,000 contracts for the week ended Oct. 13. In soybeans, long positions were reduced by over 6,200 contracts. Long positions in wheat futures were decreased by roughly 9,000 to 10,000 contracts for wheat, according to the report. The reduction in long positions in corn was the largest decrease seen in the week's report, says Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank in a note. "The bulk of the selling was once again concentrated in grains," Hansen says. CBOT corn is down 1.1%, while soybeans fall 0.6% and wheat slides 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1107 ET - U.S. natural gas futures give up early gains and move lower, adding to Friday's losses. "While tightening storage comparisons and stronger export demand provide underlying support, inventories remain relatively comfortable heading into winter," Andy Huenefeld of Pinebrook Energy Advisors says in a note. Near-term weather forecasts suggest below-normal heating needs, he adds. "A meaningful shift in the weather outlook may be necessary to establish a more durable rally." Nymex natural gas is off 1.2% at $3.078/mmBtu.
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