The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
1049 ET - One of the few bright spots in farmer budgets in recent years has been the value of the land farms sit on. Farmland values roughly doubled from 2010 to 2025, according to data from the USDA. Notable states that have seen farmland value appreciate the most include New York, Iowa, Ohio, Florida, and California. States like Texas have not seen a similar uptick. Farmers who are lacking in working capital can often leverage their land to obtain operating loans big enough to field the next year's crops. Farm real estate accounts for 83% of total farm asset value, says the USDA. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1008 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME are virtually flat, staying around the $2.30 a pound mark. After being mostly weaker in previous weeks, boxed beef prices are seen adding value this week. "Typically, the choice cutout adds premium this time of year, ahead of the holiday season," says AgResource in a note. The firm adds that the spread between select and choice cutouts is tightening, as thinner supplies drive prices up. Lean hog futures are down 1.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0959 ET - China is once again one of the leading destinations for a new wave of sizable U.S. grain exports, says the USDA. The agency reports that 134,000 metric tons of soybeans were sold for 2026/27 delivery, while 165,000 tons were sold to Spain for 2026/27. It's the sixth straight business day of flash sales announcements, according to USDA data. But that alone isn't enough to kick-start the U.S. grain demand engine, says Gary Sandlund of Futures International. "All options continue to bleed out as there simply is not fear in any grain market," says Sandlund. Corn falls 1.5%, soybeans are down 0.8%, and wheat is 2.8% lower. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0932 ET - Escalated hostilities in the Black Sea region may mean a large cut to grain exports coming out of Ukraine for the 2026/27 marketing year. In a note, agricultural consultancy SovEcon says that it expects Ukraine's grain exports to decrease by 5.1 million metric tons in the marketing year, falling to 33 million tons. Of that, corn exports were lowered by 3.8 million tons, and wheat by 1.2 million tons. The firm says that Ukraine's Odesa ports stay blocked, and attacks on other ports, vessels, or valuable infrastructure are growing in severity. "Ships leaving the Danube have now been targeted even in Romanian and Bulgarian waters--something we hadn't seen before," says SovEcon head Andrey Sizov. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0916 ET - CBOT grain futures are lower premarket, with farmers seen as pushing ahead on harvesting their 2026 crops. "With good weather throughout the Corn Belt, it should be a productive week," says Matt Bennett of AgMarket in a note. Farmers potentially pulling ahead of the 5-year average pace with their activity this week is one factor explaining why grains continue to slump, with another being that fund traders are paring back their sizable long positions. "There's not many buyers to offset that position," says Bennett. Corn is down 1.1%, soybeans sink 0.7%, and wheat is off 1.9%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
0906 ET - Oil futures are steady in early U.S. trading, with WTI for December delivery making its debut at the front of the curve. Yesterday's high of $110 a barrel for the expiring November contract "provides an eventual upside target to WTI when looking across the next 1-2-week time frame," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. The firm cautions against chasing WTI higher above $102 "since the bulk of the past week's upside price acceleration appears attributable to increased risk appetite rather than a shift in global crude balances." December WTI is off 0.1% at $97.72 a barrel and Brent is down 0.3% at $108.51 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0830 ET - U.S. natural gas futures extend their slide into a fourth session with near-term weather forecasts shedding heating demand. "That has dropped us down through the support around $3 and even below the firmer support at $2.90," Tradition Energy's Gary Cunningham says in a note. With gas for January delivery firmly under $4, it could drive some hedging interest as international buyers still rely on U.S. supplies due to continued restrictions on LNG out of the Persian Gulf, giving support to the December-February strip, he says. Natural gas for November delivery is down 4% at $2.844/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
0608 ET - Palm oil ended lower in Asia. Crude palm oil futures were pressured by weaker soybean oil and crude oil prices, says David Ng, a trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. Market sentiment was also weighed by concerns about elevated domestic inventories and expectations of record Malaysian palm oil output in October, he adds. Ng expects CPO futures to find support around 4,600 ringgit a ton and face resistance at 4,800 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for January delivery fell 49 ringgit to 4,768 ringgit a ton.(amanda.lee@wsj.com)
0357 ET - Gold prices fall as oil pushes higher, with investors now awaiting next week's Federal Reserve meeting for more cues on the monetary policy outlook. In early European trading, gold futures are down 0.1% to $4,138.90 a troy ounce. The precious metal continues to trade in a tight range, with analysts saying key resistance stands at around $4,230 an ounce. "Treasury yields are pushing higher--marginally--as market anxiety over the inflation outlook builds," analysts at MUFG say. Traders are currently pricing in an 88% probability of a U.S. rate hike in December, according to the CME's FedWatch tool. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)
2245 ET - Palm oil rises in Asian trading, tracking stronger soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade overnight. Firmness in global vegetable oil and energy markets is expected to support prices, but ample palm oil supplies and near-term profit-taking could cap further gains, AmInvestment Bank says in a note. It expects CPO futures to find support at 4,782 ringgit a ton and face resistance at 4,835 ringgit a ton. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for January delivery is 12 ringgit higher at 4,829 ringgit a ton. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)
2220 ET - Copper is higher in early Asian trading. Prices are supported by tightening supply, as the world's largest copper producer Chile faces its lowest output in 23 years, ANZ research analysts say in a commentary. Chile's finance minister expects copper output to fall 7% this year, with only a minor recovery projected for 2027. Operational issues are also increasing, with at least seven worker fatalities at Chilean mines over the past month, they add. The three-month LME copper contract is 0.2% higher at $14,448.00 a ton. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
2034 ET - Gold declines in early Asian trade. The precious metal is likely to remain weighed down by higher crude oil prices keeping inflationary pressures in place and reinforcing hawkish monetary-policy expectations, says Bas Kooijman of DHF Capital S.A. in a note. Investors are likely to watch October's Federal Reserve meeting for hints on the U.S. interest rate outlook, he says. "Although the Fed is widely expected to leave rates steady, attention will likely remain on clues regarding another possible increase in December," he adds. A higher interest-rate environment typically drags down the non-interest-yielding yellow metal. Spot gold is down 0.2% at $4,117.90 an ounce.
Comments