We kickoff the day with PPI at 7:30 A.M., EIA Energy Stocks at 9:30 A.M., FED Announcement at 1:00 P.M. and Dairy Product Sales at 2:00 P.M. On the corn front the USDA lowered the Brazil crop more than expected and raised exports which will lower carryout so we will be keying in on weather and yields. We may see more acreage in late plantings. The rally stalled in the overnight electronic session with the July contract currently trading at 375 ¼ which is 2 ¼ cents lower. The trading range has been 379 ¾ to 374 ½. Another reason for the strong rally is the rise of Ethanol usage both at home and abroad.
Speaking of Ethanol the EPA is hinting it may expand sales of higher ethanol gasoline blends. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt made the comments during a multi-day tour of the Mid-west, as he fended off criticism from farmers and lawmakers since last year’s overhaul the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) which marked a betrayal of President Trump’s promise to support rural jobs. Reported by Chris Prentice with Reuters. In the overnight electronic session the July contract is currently trading at 1.445 which is .001 higher. The trading range has been 1.450 to 1.444. 9 contracts traded and Open Interest is at 807 contracts.
On the Crude Oil front last night’s API Energy Stocks of Crude showed builds of 833k barrels with expectations of draws of 1.25 million barrels, Cushing had draws of 730k with expectations of a draw of 900k barrels. Gasoline had builds of 2.33 million barrels and Distillates had builds of 2.1 million barrels which overall was a bit bearish. This morning at 9:30 A.M. we have the EIA Energy Stocks to see if there numbers are close to the API. In the overnight electronic session the July Crude Oil is currently trading at 6596 which is 40 points lower. The trading range has been 6634 to 6552.
On the Natural Gas front the market inches up once again with the futures outdistancing the cash, with temperatures on the rise the fickle market is gaining strength yet again. In the overnight electronic session the July Natural Gas is currently trading at 2.964 which is 2 ½ cents higher. The trading range has been 2.968 to 2.916.