04/07/2024 Sunday Market Preview

Grains are called steady to slightly firmer at the open as traders look to gauge the tone of oil and outside financial markets. In the Headlines May corn futures lost 7 3/4 cents last week, with nearby beans down 6 1/2. May Chicago wheat was up 7 cents while May Kansas City wheat lost 3. April cattle dropped $6.75 and May feeders fell by $10.52. April hogs were up $2.70 for the week. May WTI crude oil futures jumped $3.72 while gold rallied to a new record high. The dollar index inched slightly lower. Ohio became the sixth state with a case of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus detected in a dairy cattle herd. HPAI cases had previously been reported in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Michigan, and Idaho. Last Monday, it was announced that HPAI had infected a person in Texas. Also a concerning development from last week was that the bird flu had been detected in cats from one of the affected farms in Texas. Tennessee, Nebraska, and Hawaii have enacted restrictions on cattle movement in response to the risk. Cattle futures have sold off sharply as speculators liquidate their positions due to uncertainty surrounding the bird…