Initial Jobless Claims and Export Sales at 7:30 A.M. followed by the EIA Gas Storage and the announcement of corporate layoffs.
On the Grain front we have a mixed bag of tricks this morning with Soybean and the Crush markets trading a tad higher while Corn and Wheat are trading a tad lower. In the overnight electronic session the May Corn is currently trading at 364 ¼, which is a ½ of a cent lower. The trading range has been 365 ½ to 363 ¾. Plantings will continue to be stalled unless the weekend’s weather forecast that is predicting sunny skies and a rise in temperatures.
On the Ethanol front the May contract posted a trade at 1.647 which is .002 of a cent higher. The current market showing bid/offers is 1 contract bid @ 1.636 and 1 contract offered @ 1.646 with Open Interest at 3,099 contracts.
On the Crude Oil front the higher U.S. dollar is not completely breaking the bulls from their rhythm even with a less-than-bullish EIA inventory number versus the API Data and the Fed minutes sinking the stock market in yesterday’s trading session. In the overnight electronic session the May Crude Oil is currently trading at 5144, which is 29 points higher. The trading range has been 5152 to 5077.
On the Natural Gas front the current rally was mainly due to nuclear power plants under maintenance preparing to meet any challenge to the power grid this summer. The Thomson Reuters poll of 22 analysts estimates the EIA Gas Storage anywhere from 14 bcf to 15 bcf with the average of 7 bcf. In the overnight electronic session the May Natural Gas is currently trading at 3.266, which is unchanged. The trading range has been 3.283 to 3.259.