Corn (ZCZ25) and soybean (ZSX25) bulls were left for dead early last week but then posted good price recoveries in the latter half of the week. This has kept alive hopes that near-term market bottoms are in place. Last Wednesday’s upbeat post on U.S. soybeans by President Donald Trump seemed to light a fire under not only soybean bulls, but corn bulls, too. Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet in about three weeks. A positive outcome would likely give a big psychological boost to grain market traders. China is the world’s largest soybean importer.
Combines are rolling in corn and soybean fields across the U.S. Midwest amid rapid harvest progress. That’s keeping commercial hedgers active sellers in the corn and bean futures markets. Such will likely limit any price rallies in corn and soybeans to only modest ones. Weather forecasters are saying U.S. harvest weather will continue to be mostly favorable for the next two weeks, which will keep the harvest pressure strong and the commercials active sellers.
