FINANCIAL MARKETS : COMMODITIES : Wheat, Corn Ease; Soybeans Climb

In the commodities markets Wednesday, wheat and corn futures settled lower while soybeans finished higher on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The losses were mostly due to profit taking and liquidation before the release of the Agriculture Department’s quarterly report on U.S. grain stocks, said Joel Karlin, an analyst with Research Department Inc.

The report, issued after the close, showed corn stocks at 4.882 billion bushels, soybean stocks at 436 million bushels and wheat stocks at 2.958 billion bushels.

The numbers indicated a decline since last year in stockpiles of all three grains. The soybean and wheat totals fell below the range of most analysts’ estimates.

Wheat settled 0.50 cent to 2.75 cents lower with December at $2.89.25 a bushel; corn was 2.25 cents to 4 cents lower with December at $1.7975 a bushel; oats were 0.25 cent to 0.75 cent higher with December at $1.8075 a bushel; soybeans were 3.25 cents lower to 1 cent higher with November at $5.32 a bushel.

Cattle futures settled lower while pork futures finished mostly higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Live cattle settled 0.58 cent to 1.35 cent lower with October at 67.55 cents a pound; feeder cattle were 0.50 cent to 1.25 cents lower with October at 78.35 cents a pound; live hogs were 1.25 cents lower to 0.15 cent higher with October at 47.57 cents a pound; frozen pork bellies were 0.08 cent to 0.28 cent higher with February at 56.92 cents a pound.

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