The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
2037 GMT - Livestock futures end the session flat ahead of the Cold Storage and Cattle on Feed reports, with live cattle unchanged at $2.31125 a pound and hogs up a fraction of a cent at 65.575 cents a pound. The USDA reported beef in freezers at the end of September down 1% from August and down 1% from a year earlier. Frozen pork supplies were 1% lower on the month but up 9% on the year. Cattle and calves on feed were 11.4 million head on Oct. 1, slightly below a year ago. Placements on feedlots in September fell 12% from the year-earlier month to 1.78 million head, and marketings of fed cattle fell 7% on the year to 1.52 million head--both the lowest on record for the month. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
2031 GMT - Oil futures rise with prospects of conflict escalation in the Middle East increasing concerns about future supply from the region. "Crude oil prices are on the rise as the market rebuilds geopolitical risk premium amid escalatory rhetoric from the U.S./Israel and Iran, raising fears of renewed and potentially even more intense back-and-forth strikes," Mike Castle of StoneX says in a note. WTI settles up 3.8% at $103.27 a barrel for a 4.3% gain on the week. Brent rises 3.1% to $116.72 a barrel, a 6.2% weekly gain and its highest close since April 29. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
2024 GMT - U.S. natural gas futures extend the week's losses as mild weather for the time of year combines with rising production. "That recovery is bringing supply back into the market just as domestic consumption moves through a milder stretch," Gelber & Associates says in a note. Thursday's storage report that reduced the inventory surplus over the five-year average by 10 Bcf to 35 Bcf was enough to generate a brief recovery, "but it has not changed the broader picture of adequate supply heading into November," the firm adds. "Colder conditions later in the outlook should increase residential and commercial consumption into November, but the intervening mild period gives recovering production more time to replenish inventories." Nymex natural gas settles down 5.6% at $2.64/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1835 GMT - Precious metals extend losses with silver reaching a new low for the year and gold settling below the $4,000 level. Rising oil prices, with the implications for inflation, continue to weigh on gold, Konstantinos Chrysikos of Kudo says in a note. The Fed is expected to leave interest rates unchanged next week, so the market will focus on the statement and press conference, he says. "Any hawkish messaging, especially if oil keeps climbing, would likely extend bullion's losses." Any signs of a less restrictive stance could set up a relief rebound, he adds. Front-month gold for October delivery settles down 1.3% in New York at $3,991.10 a troy ounce. Silver falls 1.9% to $53.711 a troy ounce, its lowest settlement since Nov. 26, 2025. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1828 GMT - Ahead of next month's WASDE, traders are keeping a close eye on what demand indicators show for U.S. grain exports. "Our focus remains on demand rather than supply," says Rich Nelson of Allendale Inc. For corn and soybeans, export sales are a key metric, while for wheat "psychological pressure" from the Russia-Ukraine talks is seen as having more of an impact, Nelson says, even with little progress in those talks. Most-active CBOT corn is down 0.7%, while soybeans rise 0.4% and wheat is up 0.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1746 GMT - The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by one this week to 460, and was up by 40 from a year ago, oil services company Baker Hughes reports. The rise in global oil prices brought on by the U.S.-Iran conflict has encouraged drilling, with U.S. oil production reaching record high levels. Oil rigs are up by 53 from when the conflict began at the end of February. Natural gas rigs slipped by one this week to 132, or 11 more than a year ago. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1737 GMT - Managed money is continuing its gradual shift from being record-long to building short positions, says Brady Huck of EmpowerAg Trading. "It's been another bruising week in the grain markets, [as] fund selling pressure continued to weigh heavy on the grains," says Huck. Traders may be looking for a turnaround in corn specifically, as an unwinding of a mountain of long positions in corn may be soon completed. The CFTC will be publishing its updated Commitments of Traders report following the CBOT's afternoon close. Huck adds that strength in the USD ahead of next week's Fed decision is also a pressure point for grain futures. Most-active CBOT corn is down 0.7%, while soybeans rises 0.3% and wheat is up 0.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1729 GMT - CBOT grain futures are mixed as markets gear-up for next week's Fed decision. Soybeans see tentative demand based on sales to China, while corn and wheat remain mired by lackluster trading sentiment, says Brian Grete of Commstock Investments. "Any strength [is] limited to modest corrective buying," says Grete. The U.S. dollar index is up 0.2%, with USD strength also being a factor pressuring grain futures in recent weeks. Most-active CBOT corn is down 0.7%, soybeans rise 0.4%, and wheat is up 0.4%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1703 GMT - Farmers have been seen aggressively selling their harvests when CBOT grain futures climbed back up to recent highs in the late summer/early fall. That may have created other issues further down the supply chain, says Tanner Ehmke of CoBank in a note. "Farmers have been aggressive sellers during recent rallies in corn, soybeans and wheat, transferring ownership of grain to elevators and cooperatives earlier than usual," says Ehmke. "At the same time, higher interest rates, volatile futures markets and rising transportation costs are increasing the amount of working capital required to manage those inventories." CBOT grains are mixed in afternoon trading, with corn down 0.8%, soybeans up 0.3%, and wheat up 0.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)
1631 GMT [Dow Jones]--The EU's recent trade talks with China, which saw both sides agree to an annual cap on Chinese hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles entering the bloc and lower tariffs on EU goods like olive oil and car parts shipped to China, could be a stepping stone to look at addressing trade imbalances in other sectors, Helen McEntee, Ireland's trade minister, says at a meeting in Dublin Friday. She says that the EU has made progress in its trade relationship with China, "albeit in a limited way on certain industries and certain types of products," she says. "I would see that as a platform and perhaps a stepping stone to look to more industries and sectors where we can address that imbalance," she says. (edith.hancock@wsj.com)
1615 GMT - Silver futures are falling for a third straight session, trading at their lowest level in almost a year, while gold is lower and hovering just above the $4,000 mark. The recent Nasdaq rout is weighing heavily on precious metals, Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital says in a note. "We see two main factors: first, investors are raising cash; second, Russia is selling gold holdings as the war continues to leave its economy in shambles," he says. "Nonetheless, while the risk of further downside remains, we would selectively buy at these levels." Silver for December delivery is off 1.4% in New York at $54.225 a troy ounce. Gold is down 1.2% at $4,010.20 a troy ounce. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1454 GMT - U.S. natural gas futures are lower as weather forecasts shed more near-term heating demand. "With warmer overnight trends, the weather data maintains a solidly bearish pattern for most of the next 15 days," NatGasWeather.com says in a note. The first week of November is "very El Niño-like" with warmer-than-normal temperatures over most of the northern 2/3 of the U.S., the forecaster says. "Clearly, the longer it takes for colder/bluer weather maps to show up in the weather models, the more impatient the natural gas markets are likely to get waiting." Nymex natural gas is down 3.3% at $2.703/mmBtu.
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