The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.
0256 GMT - Palm oil rises in Asian trading, driven by strength in soybean oil on the Chicago Board of Trade, says David Ng, a trader at Kuala Lumpur-based Iceberg X. Expectations for a seasonal slowdown in Malaysian palm oil production in November also help support palm oil prices, he adds. Ng says crude palm oil will likely face resistance at 4,500 ringgit a ton and find support at 4,400 ringgit a ton. He expects market direction to remain sensitive to movements in competing vegetable oils and crude oil prices. The Bursa Malaysia Derivatives contract for January delivery is 15 ringgit higher at 4,455 ringgit a ton. (yingxian.wong@wsj.com)
0253 GMT - Iron ore futures are lower in early Asian trade. Prices are likely to remain range-bound in the near term, say Baocheng Futures analysts in a commentary. "While iron ore supply has contracted, the sustainability of the pullback remains in doubt. Combined with sluggish demand, market fundamentals have yet to improve," they say. The most-traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange is down 0.45% at CNY670.0 a ton. (tracy.qu@wsj.com)
0246 GMT - Copper prices are lower in Asian trade, as renewed concerns over U.S. inflation and interest rates weigh on sentiment, offsetting signs of improving physical demand in China, says Everbright Futures analysts in a note. The metal's near-term direction remains heavily influenced by macroeconomic sentiment amid a tug-of-war between weakening overseas AI-related demand and U.S. stockpiling narratives, and tight inventories as well as strong spot premiums in China, they say. The three-month LME copper contract is down 0.7% at $13,718.50 a ton. (jiahui.huang@wsj.com; @ivy_jiahuihuang)
0016 GMT - Gold edges higher in a likely technical rebound after falling overnight. The precious metal has fallen below $3,900 an ounce as higher oil prices fuel expectations of rate hikes, ANZ Research analysts say in a research note. Strong U.S. economic data suggests that the Federal Reserve could even deliver a 50-basis-point hike in December, they say. A renewed sell-off in bond markets has sent yields higher and is weighing on investor appetite for the nonyielding asset. The U.S. dollar index's rise above 103 puts further pressure on the yellow metal, they add. Spot gold is up 0.1% at $3,880.00 an ounce. (sherry.qin@wsj.com)
2211 GMT - Jefferies remains bullish about GrainCorp, but understands why the grain handler's stock didn't benefit much from a solid FY26 result. GrainCorp's revenue of A$7.13 billion was better than expected, and its underlying profit of A$30.5 million beat forecasts. Still, a muted share-price response likely reflects limited evidence of a turnaround in grain supply, analyst John Campbell says. GrainCorp's management flagged lower FY27 revenue and an only modest improvement in profit margins. "Add CEO Robert Spurway's departure after more than six years, and there was enough uncertainty to take the shine off an otherwise decent result," Jefferies says. It keeps a buy call on GrainCorp and raises its price target by 4.7% to A$7.85/share. GrainCorp ended Thursday at A$7.00. (david.winning@wsj.com; @dwinningWSJ)
2047 GMT - Livestock futures end the session with cattle steady and hogs lower. Pork cutouts fell with carcass down 20 cents to $69.14 per hundredweight in the USDA's afternoon report. Boxed beef prices were mixed with choice down and select higher in the morning report. Beef imports, which were up 18% on the year at the end of October, are pressuring beef prices, Chris Lehner of ADM Investor Services says in a note. Live cattle end near flat at $2.189 a pound. Hogs for December fall 1.6% to 55.15 cents a pound, while the February contract gains 0.8% to 61 cents a pound. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
2043 GMT - U.S. natural gas futures rise as a colder near-term weather outlook supports heating demand expectations along with solidLNG exports. The colder weather is beginning to translate into consumption, "giving the recent weather-driven rally more immediate support," Gelber & Associates says in a note. "The outlook becomes more mixed beyond that initial increase." The EIA is scheduled to report weekly storage levels on Friday. Analysts in a WSJ survey expect an above-normal 67 Bcf injection, which would increase the inventory surplus over the five-year average to 81 Bcf from 54 Bcf the previous week. Nymex natural gas settles up 3.9% at $3.340/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
2035 GMT - Oil futures give up early losses and close higher after President Trump said the U.S. doesn't need to reach a deal with Iran, adding risk premium back into the market despite the recent increase in supply from the Middle East. The market shrugged off bearish U.S. inventory data that showed strong builds in crude oil, gasoline and diesel stocks for last week. "Lower diesel demand and exports helped rebuild the tight inventories but there's a long way to go before domestic stockpiles return to normal," said David Russell of TradeStation. "We need a few more weeks like this to know whether the tide has finally turned." WTI settles up 2.6% at $88.74 a barrel, and Brent rises 3.3% to $95.82 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1838 GMT - Grains trading on the Chicago Board of Trade accelerate losses as the U.S. dollar rises to a 19-month high amid expectations of higher interest rates to rein in inflation. "A surging U.S. dollar pressured CBOT grain futures as the relative cost of U.S. commodities increased to importers," AgResource says in a note. "This week's U.S. CPI report showed that rising energy prices are raising inflation worries, with record distillate prices being passed on to consumers." Wheat falls 2.8%, corn is down 1.3% and soybeans are off 0.9%. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1831 GMT - Gold futures fall for a third consecutive session as the dollar gains and yields rise, with the market concerned about higher interest rates and a rebound in oil prices that could fuel more inflation. Front-month gold falls 2.8% in New York to $3,878.40 a troy ounce, its lowest settlement since Oct. 2, 2025. Silver falls 3.7% to $49.972 a troy ounce. The rise in oil futures after President Trump said the U.S. doesn't need a deal with Iran added to inflation worries that were stoked with this week's above-estimate U.S. CPI report. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1812 GMT - Now the USDA's November WASDE report in the rear-view mirror with a lower corn crop estimate, the market will need to keep a close watch on exports, Cory Bratland of AgMarket.net says in a note. "The past few weeks, export pace on corn has been picking up but we did see the USDA lower their annual estimate by 25 million bushels." Even so, "we will need the export pace to pick up even more or we will likely see the USDA lower demand for exports in future reports." Corn is down 1.1%on CBOT. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)
1753 GMT - Lower wheat exports out of Russia and Ukraine due to Black Sea disruptions have meant a buildup of stocks in those countries and lower domestic prices, Rabobank's head of agri commodity markets research Carlos Mera says in a note. "If farmers in these two key exporters continue to receive depressed prices and face a gloomy outlook for the export season ahead, a large decline in Russian and Ukrainian planted area would define next season." Even a quick resolution so close to winter wouldn't immediately equalize Russian farmgate prices to international prices, leaving spring plantings at risk, he says. High wheat prices might increase planted area elsewhere, but high farm input prices, especially diesel, along with regulatory pressures and policy uncertainty could limit expanded acreage, Mera adds.
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