By Kirk Maltais

 

--Corn for July delivery rose 2.4% to $6.06 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, with traders re-adding risk premium for any potential weather surprises over the long weekend.

--Wheat for July delivery rose 2.1% to $6.17 3/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for July delivery rose 0.9% to $13.37 a bushel.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Transition Period: Without much news ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, traders turned to the weather. "The CBOT is adding weather premium heading into the long holiday weekend knowing that mid-June weather forecasts will key price direction early next week," AgResource said in a note. "The big question for traders is with heat building this weekend, will the dryness extend into the middle of June." Isolated and scattered showers are expected next week, although they are expected to be limited, according to DTN.

Political Wrangling: Traders paring some of their short contracts in order to mitigate risk also did so on tense negotiations over raising the debt ceiling. "The debt ceiling and the kick-off to the 2023 weather markets are the two major drivers to this end-of-week push higher in my view," said Michael Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics. The Wall Street Journal reported negotiators are getting closer to a deal to increase the debt limit ahead of the deadline next week when the government could run short of money to fund programs, including agriculture.

 

INSIGHT

 

Looking for a Jump: There's expected to be positive news on U.S. planting progress next week, Terry Reilly of Futures International said in a note. "We look for a good jump in planting progress, a slight increase in US winter wheat conditions, and near average for U.S. corn conditions," Reilly said. The planting season in the U.S. is drawing closer to its conclusion, with most of the work usually done by June. The weekly report will be delayed by a day due to the U.S. holiday.

Bucking the Status Quo: Short-covering has been a theme of row crop trading over the past two days, but the trend for how fund traders are approaching their positioning may be shifting. "The market is speculatively short, and nervous," said Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. "Much of that is because virtually no one has booked a profit this year to date in the grains."

 

AHEAD

 

--The USDA and the Chicago Board of Trade will be closed Monday, reopening on Tuesday.

--The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday.

--The USDA will release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.

 

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 26, 2023 16:05 ET (20:05 GMT)

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