Plains, Prairies Quick Takes

Plains, Prairies Quick Takes

November canola is down $.50 per metric ton (mt), Dec soybean oil is down .32 cents per pound, November European rapeseed is down 2.25 euros per mt and October Malaysian palm oil is up .18%. Dec oats are down 2 3/4 cents per bushel. October crude oil is down $.66 per barrel, October ULSD is down $.0378 per gallon, and the September Canadian dollar is down .00175 at .72350. The September U.S. Dollar Index is up .202 at 98.285 and the September Brazilian real is down .00015 at 0.18190.

Grain and oilseed markets are well off their overnight lows as concerns over potential frosts grow and bargain hunting kicks in. Canola even turned green on the day briefly with Winnipeg reporting a low of .4 Celsius overnight and light frost seen in North Dakota. Corn has also shaken off early weakness, turning positive for the day. With the scattered showers that crossed the Corn Belt providing little relief, the updated U.S. drought monitor showing greatly expanded areas under drought conditions, little to no relief in sight going out to the middle of September, and a risk of frost for the next few nights for the Western Corn Belt, a firmer close should not be a surprise to anyone.

In outside markets, disappointing jobs data continues to support higher Treasury prices with lower interest rates the result (ahead of Friday morning’s payroll report). A weak labor market is the one thing Jerome Powell has consistently said would result in the Fed lowering interest rates.

Equity markets remain very strong thanks to lower interest rates while they don’t seem to be bothering the U.S. dollar as it remains higher on the day, albeit still below the 100-day moving average.

The crude oil market has recovered some of its early losses on rumors of potential increased OPEC+ production quotas for October.