By Dan Molinski
--Soybeans' most-active contract that expires in March rose 1.5%, to $14.92 1/2 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, as a jump in U.S. stock markets and higher oil prices injected some risk appetite back into grains.
--Wheat's March contract ended 0.4% lower, at $7.43 1/2 a bushel.
--Corn for March rose 0.2%, to $6.54 a bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Soybeans Bounce: Even with soybeans' semi-rebound on Friday, beans, corn and wheat all closed lower for the week. Friday's rise in soybeans was partly due to the market carving out a technical bottom that then led to short covering, and it came just as risk appetite was also starting to seep back into financial markets. A monthly U.S. jobs report Friday morning showed an impressive decline in the unemployment rate, to 3.5% for December, as hiring still looked pretty good despite a wave of layoffs in some areas of the economy. That may suggest the outlook for food demand may not be so bad after all.
Rain-A-Plenty: "International satellites show mostly dry over the South African maize areas, showers over the northeastern Australian wheat areas, rains over the southeastern EU wheat areas, rains and snow over Ukraine, snow over the northwestern Russian wheat areas, showers over the central Brazilian grain areas, and mostly dry over the Argentine grain areas," said Marex Capital in a note. "Forecasts on the international stage call for showers over the northern EU grain areas over the next week, scattered showers over northern Ukraine over the next week, showers over the southern Russian wheat areas over the next week, rains over most of the Brazilian grain areas except the far south over the next week."
INSIGHT
Bean Bottom: Friday's rebound in soybeans may be more than a one-off event. "Beans have sold off hard all week with price now back at the bottom of the trading range that we saw for most of December," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in a note just as prices were beginning to bounce. "There is potential for a large move in either direction from here depending on South American crop prospects and if the re-opening of China sparks new buying interest. Puts can be used to cover downside risk, but don't give up any ownership after the recent drop. Producers that are heavily sold can look at re-owning beans with calls after the pull-back."
AHEAD
--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.
--The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.
--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
--The USDA will release its monthly world supply and demand report at noon ET Thursday.
Write to Dan Molinski at dan.molinski@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-06-23 1455ET
