U.S. China Trade Talks Enter New Phase
Markets are higher in Asia as the Americans and Chinese start a new round of trade negotiations in Beijing aimed to end the trade war. A foreign ministry spokesman indicated that China was open to negotiating a solution on equal footing. “Serious working-level discussions”, tweeted a U.S. expert in response to an image of today’s talks heading into the week. Also encouraging were last Friday’s comments by Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell, who claimed the American economy is “on track to sustain good momentum,” plus the addition of 312,000 new U.S. jobs last month. Contributors to this story were Reuters, Financial Times and CNBC.
On corn we closed above the resistance at 382 on Friday and the market is waiting on news that the trade talks are gaining momentum and true traction for exports which could lead to an escalation of exporting more commodities in corn and ethanol for starters and that could possibly be only the tip of the iceberg. In the overnight electronic session, the March Corn is currently trading at 383 which is unchanged. The trading range has been 383 ½ to 381 ¾.
On the ethanol, the February contract is currently trading at 1.307 which is .009 higher. The trading range has been 1.307 to 1.305. 2 contracts traded and Open Interest is hovering around 1,937 contracts. The market is currently showing 2 bids at 1.307 and 2 offers at 1.310.
On the Crude Oil front OPEC production cuts and cuts on capital spending are starting to catch investors eyes and if the China - U.S. trade talks bear any fruit we will have a bullish economy and shortages on Crude Oil and products. In the overnight electronic session, the February Crude Oil is currently trading at 4904 which is 108 points higher. The trading range has been 4947 to 4811.
On the Natural Gas front a bearish EIA Gas Storage number coupled with warmer than average January temperatures are hitting the market again. In the overnight electronic session, the February contract is currently trading at 2.954 which is 9 cents lower. The trading range has been 2.989 to 2.910.