Surging Winter Wheat Prices Are Lifting Grain Futures Across the Board. What to Watch Next.
May soft red winter (SRW) wheat (ZWK26) futures on Friday rose 13 1/2 cents to $5.80 1/4, hit a 6.5-month high, and for the week were up 38 1/4 cents. May hard red winter (HRW) (KEK26) wheat futures rose 8 1/2 cents to $5.85 1/4, hit a seven-month high, and on the week were up 31 1/2 cents. The winter wheat futures markets saw technically bullish weekly high closes Friday that suggest some follow-through, chart-based buying early this week.
However, these two markets are now short-term overbought, technically, and due for routine and arguably healthy corrective price pullbacks very soon.
Wheat, corn (ZCK26), and soybean (ZSK26) markets have rallied recently due in part to the improving trade relations between the U.S. and its global counterparts, including the U.S. making trade deals recently that highlight more purchases of U.S. ag products.
However, Friday’s Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump’s administration’s tariff regime is throwing near-term uncertainty into all the grain markets. Why? Trading partners might start to reject finalized trading agreements due to the new U.S. levies announced by Trump this past weekend. How the Supreme Court ruling against the Trump administration’s tariff regime plays out in the coming months, and Trump’s reactions to it, will be closely monitored by grain traders. Will previously agreed-upon U.S. trade deals with other nations hold up? Will the Trump administration find legal workarounds to continue the tariffs? Nobody knows right now. However, the uncertainty of this important matter will not be a bullish element for the grain markets in the coming months.
May corn futures on Friday rose 3 1/2 cents to $4.39 3/4 but for the week were down 2 1/4 cents. May corn on Friday did see a technically bullish weekly high close, suggesting some follow-through price strength early this week. Corn traders will continue to look to the wheat market for daily price direction.
Brazil’s second-crop (safrinha) corn plantings continue to trail levels seen one year ago and are below the five-year average as the ideal planting window is passing. Better moisture will be crucial for the crop to achieve full production potential. Some rainfall is in the forecast for the coming days for key growing regions in South America, with no region being deemed in serious drought conditions.



