Good Morning!
Yesterdays continued positive exports helped the Corn market to settle higher on the day closing close to the highs. It was not a fantastic rally but it showed how the exports are supporting this market as investors look to sell any substantial rally. In the overnight electronic session the March contract is currently trading at 370 ¾, which is 1 ½ of a cent higher. The trading range has been 371 to 369 ¼.
On the Ethanol front with Open Interest in the April contract more than double of the March we will shift our focus to the April which posted a trade at 1.550 which is .011 higher with 1 contract traded. The market is currently showing 6 bids @ 1.531 and 4 offers @ 1.547 and Open Interest at 2,425 contracts.
On the Crude Oil front the market is at 19-month highs and with positive news from OPEC Secretary General Mohamad Barkindo said the compliance rate of the cartel members who agreed to participate in the cutback is set to rise above 90%. Meanwhile, Qatar’s oil minister hails the success of the oil cuts, said soured a positive spin for the Crude Oil market in 2017. The higher U.S. dollar and the stock market are taking a breather ahead of the Fed minutes. In the overnight electronic session the April Crude Oil is currently trading at 5400, which is 33 points lower. The trading range has been 5460 to 5386.
On the Natural Gas front the 70 degree weather in Chicago in February for over a week has crushed prices with a warmer than normal winter demand and we can expect production slowdowns instead of shortages from weather instead of producers will slow at these price levels. If the weather forecasters that predict an early spring and hot summer we could see another demand scare in the market. In the overnight electronic session the March contract is currently trading at 2.574 which is 1 cent higher. The range has been 2.584 to 2.522.
Have a Great Trading Day