By Kirk Maltais
-Corn for July delivery rose 0.3% to $4.20 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, with a post from President Trump in the afternoon sending a shockwave through the commodities trade.
--Wheat for July delivery rose 0.3% to $5.85 a bushel.
--Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.2% to $11.14 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Shock to the System: CBOT grain futures got a brief jolt following a post by President Trump on Truth Social stating that the U.S. must respond to the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter by Iranian forces. Trump said the helicopter was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz. "Large volume flow going through here on the uptick," said Joe Davis of Futures International, calling it the highest volumes traded so far today in agricultural futures. However, most-active grain futures quickly reverted back to where they were trading before the post.
Supported by Demand: The demand picture for U.S. corn is the underlying factor supporting those futures Tuesday, said Daniel Flynn of Price Futures Group in a note. "Selling in corn is paused as charts become deeply oversold," said Flynn. But demand for corn remains supportive for prices, a case bolstered by the USDA's flash sales notice for 120,000 metric tons of U.S. corn being sold to unknown destinations for delivery in the 2025/26 marketing year.
Tough Sledding: Low expectations for the winter wheat production gave futures support, ahead of Thursday's USDA WASDE report. Traders Tuesday speculated over how much the USDA may change its projections for U.S. wheat, engaging in short-covering ahead of the report, said Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. This week's Crop Progress report cut winter wheat in good-or-excellent condition by one point to 25%, the worst rating for a U.S. winter wheat crop on record. However, spring wheat did not get the same stress in this week's Crop Progress report.
INSIGHT
Stable From Last Week: The USDA's latest Crop Progress report showed stability in the condition of spring crops--with 67% of U.S. corn in good-or-excellent condition, along with 65% of soybeans. For corn, the rating is the same as last week, while for soybeans it's down one point. That lower ratings came from states that received a deluge of rain this spring, with Ohio and Indiana among the five-lowest rated states--but were balanced out for higher-rated states like Iowa and Minnesota. A good weather outlook is expected this week, said Michael Cordonnier of Soybean & Corn Advisor in a note, with rainfall and higher temperatures expected in most areas.
Mild Changes: This week's WASDE report from the USDA isn't expected to show much in the way of changes to the USDA's current output and stockpile projections for corn, soybeans, and wheat. According to analysts surveyed by WSJ, the figures expected from Thursday's report shouldn't be too far off from what they reported last month, at least domestically. World stockpiles of corn and soybeans are expected to be higher than they were in the May report, and upticks are expected to the corn and soybean production of both Brazil and Argentina.
AHEAD
--The EIA will release its Weekly Petroleum Status Update report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
--The USDA will release its monthly WASDE report at noon ET Thursday.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-09-26 1539ET
