The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1532 ET - CME livestock futures close higher -- with the most-active live cattle contract up 0.6% to $2.0335 a pound, while lean hogs finish up 1.1% to 86.85 cents a pound. Hog futures follow the trend higher seen in pork cutout prices reported by the USDA. Analysts continue to digest the meaning of potential tariff actions on agricultural goods, including pork shipments. "While U.S. tariffs on Canadian pork-along with likely retaliatory tariffs on U.S. pork in Canada-may disrupt cross-border pork trade, sellers and buyers on both sides have some ability to adjust supply chains," says Steiner Consulting Group in a note. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1528 ET - Crude futures rise with help of a recovery in U.S. stocks, ending a week of ups and downs with small gains. Prices were buffeted during the week by exchanges over tariffs between the U.S. and Canada, and between the U.S. and EU, as well as talks toward ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Hopes for a quick ceasefire in Ukraine diminished, however. OPEC kept its 2025 demand growth estimate at $1.45 million b/d, while the IEA cut its forecast to 1.03 million b/d from 1.1 million b/d, citing trade tensions. The U.S. EIA expects demand growth of 1.3 million b/d, with sanctions on Venezuela and Iran curbing near-term supply. WTI settles up 0.9% on the day at $67.18 a barrel and snaps a seven-week losing streak. Brent rises 1% to $70.58 for a weekly gain of 0.3%, its first in four weeks. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1521 ET - U.S. natural gas fell 6.7% this week as participants started focusing on the warming weather outlook for March that has trimmed expectations for the size of the storage deficit at the end of the month. Midday data added some cold for next week, while the end of the month remains "solidly bearish," NatGasWeather.com says in a note. "We expect weather patterns will be more important this spring shoulder season versus last year due to much tighter year-over-year supplies," the forecaster says. "A wildcard is how U.S. producers respond" to higher prices and tight supplies. The Nymex front month settles down 0.2% at $4.104/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1424 ET - Front-month gold closes trading at a new high--settling at $2,994.50 a troy ounce. That's up 0.3% for the day, making it four consecutive sessions that the front-month contract finished higher. The front-month contract is now closer than its ever been to the $3,000 an ounce mark, with the most-active contract briefly jumping above that during the day. Driving the move is continued uncertainty around tariffs. "Any further developments in trade conflicts will be decisive," says Quasar Elizundia of Pepperstone in a note. "An escalation in tensions would further bolster its haven appeal. On the other hand, a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine could bring marginal relief to the market." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1419 ET - Consumers are spending their money on products that could be hit by tariffs, like cars and electronics, and in turn directing some dollars away from staples, according to Bank of America analysts, based on company comments during BofA's Consumer Conference in Miami this week. The analysts say companies were cautious on 2025 "given sluggish Q1 trends, volatility around tariffs and unknown changes from the US immigrant/migrant labor pool that may be exhibiting both different work & social behaviors," they say. BofA lowered its 1Q organic sales estimate for Coca-Cola partly on consumer softness in North America and Europe. As for overall consumer confidence, the University of Michigan preliminary Consumer Sentiment Index earlier today fell to its lowest point since 2022. (katherine.hamilton@wsj.com)

1349 ET - The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. edged up by one this week to 487, or 23 fewer than a year ago, oil services company Baker Hughes reports. Rigs directed at natural gas slipped by 1 to 100, down 16 on the year. U.S. oil and gas production is running near record levels despite lower rates of drilling. For natural gas, "well productivity growth and lingering drilled-but-uncompleted wells may sustain record production in spring and summer 2025, but surging natural gas demand over the next 10-20 months will require increasing supply," EBW Analytics said this week in a report. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1319 ET - CBOT grain futures are seeing relatively light volumes, with traders on edge after a whipsaw week fueled by tariff tension. "[The] trade looks to the next tweet for direction," says Joel Karlin of Ocean State Research. Soybeans have low volume compared to normal trading levels, with corn also low while wheat is closer to normal, according to data from FactSet. Most-active corn is down 1.4%, soybeans are up 0.6%, and wheat slides 1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1317 ET - CBOT grain futures across the board slid in the latter half of February, but farmers did not find themselves completely jammed up -- thanks in part to crop basis prices moving higher during the same time period. "The falling market prices have decreased the value of uncontracted stored grain," says Josh Strine of Purdue University in a note. "Stored grain hedged through futures markets has increased in value over the last month as the basis has strengthened." Basis prices tend to improve at this time of year, according to Purdue's data. Current levels are mostly on par with the average from the previous two crop years. But soybean basis in northwestern Illinois remains steeper than the average, with soybean bushels being discounted by roughly 50 cents a bushel. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1249 ET - Wider markets are sustaining some recovery after steep selling on worries about an incoming U.S. recession -- but CBOT grains are not seeing that positivity, with the most-active corn and wheat contracts lower in afternoon trading. "The uncertainty of global grain flows from April 2nd onward (reciprocal tariffs) limits new CBOT buying," says Daniel Flynn of Price Futures Group in a note. CFTC data shows that fund traders continue to hold large long positions in grains, particularly corn. However, last week's report showed large reductions to long contracts, and the CFTC will release its latest data at 3:30 p.m. ET. Most-active corn falls 1.6%, wheat falls 1%, and soybeans rise 0.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1156 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME are flat in morning trade, with the most-active contract steady around $2.02 a pound. Live cattle drifted below the $2/lb mark last month, but have quickly climbed back above that level. But business this week has been generally quiet, analysts say -- treading water as the U.S. trades tariff blows with its trading partners, many of which are large buyers of U.S. beef. Longer-term, further strength is expected in cattle, says AgResource in a note. "AgResource continues to advise summer sales on strong rallies in Jun/Aug cattle," says the firm. Lean hogs are up 1.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1049 ET - Dollar indexes give up overnight gains and fall as news that German policymakers are moving towards approving an increase in government spending boosts the euro. The greenback has been trending lower as the U.S. turns more protectionist, stocking fears of economic slowdown even as inflation remains hot. The Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged next week, but a hawkish tone support currency, DHF Capital's Erik Boekel writes. Both the ICE's DXY and the WSJ Dollar Index fall 0.1%, as the dollar weakens 0.2% versus the euro, while strengthening 0.5% against the yen. (paulo.trevisani@wsj.com; @ptrevisani)

1034 ET - Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol was awarded around $96 million in compensation to lure him to the coffee chain, and shareholders seem to support the move. In an advisory vote on Niccol's pay during the company's shareholder meeting earlier this week, investors voted for a non-binding approval of his compensation. They also struck down a proposal requiring that Starbucks' board has an independent chairman. Niccol also chairs Starbucks' board. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 14, 2025 16:15 ET (20:15 GMT)

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