COMMODITIES : Soybean Prices Rise on Weather Expectations
Soybean futures prices posted strong gains Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade in anticipation of a dry Memorial Day weekend. Grain futures advanced slightly.
On other markets, gold and silver retreated; livestock and meat futures were mixed; energy futures were mixed, and stock index futures declined.
Wheat settled 0.50 cent lower to 3.25 cents higher, with the contract for delivery in July at $3.39 1/2 a bushel; corn was 2.50 cents to 7 cents higher, with July at $2.165 a bushel; oats were 0.75 cent to 1.75 cents higher, with July at $1.7275 a bushel, and soybeans were 5 cents to 16.5 cents higher, with July at $7.68 a bushel.
Gold and silver futures declined substantially on the Commodity Exchange in New York in response to the dollar’s gains against other major currencies and on expectations that the Federal Reserve was set to raise its discount interest rate, analysts said.
Gold settled $2.10 to $3.30 lower, with June at $450.80 an ounce; silver was 8.4 cents to 8.5 cents lower, with July at $6.575 an ounce.
Cattle futures retreated on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as cash prices fell amid slackening wholesale demand.
Live cattle were 0.23 cent to 0.70 cent lower, with June at 71.92 cents a pound; feeder cattle were 0.08 cent to 0.63 cent lower, with August at 76.22 cents a pound; hogs were unchanged to 0.80 cent higher, with June at 53.62 cents a pound, and frozen pork bellies were 0.30 cent to 0.92 cent higher, with July at 54.32 cents a pound.
Energy futures finished mixed on the New York Mercantile Exchange in light trading ahead of the holiday weekend.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled 7 cents to 11 cents lower, with July at $17.43 a barrel; heating oil was 0.26 cent to 0.41 cent lower, with June at 47.78 cents a gallon, and unleaded gasoline was 0.20 cent lower to 0.20 cent higher, with June at 52.55 cents a gallon.
Stock index futures fell on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where the contract for June delivery of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index settled 2.10 points lower at 253.50.
