By Kirk Maltais


--Corn for July delivery fell 1.3%, to $7.93 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday, with traders remaining risk-off due to both macro factors as well as reservations about better planting weather.

--Wheat for July delivery fell 1%, to $10.45 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.9%, to $16.30 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Big Picture: Grain traders maintained a hands-off approach after a recent run-up putting prices at nearly record-highs, due in part to factors affecting markets across the board. "Market is taking a breather and not ready to commit to more upside as of yet," Donna Hughes of StoneX told The Wall Street Journal. She identifies recent strength in the U.S. dollar index, tomorrow's announcement from the Federal Reserve on interest rates, and Covid-19 in China as macro factors putting a lid of grains.

Potential Reversal: Yesterday afternoon's Crop Progress report from the USDA showed planting in the U.S. being well behind the 5-year average pace. The USDA reported that only 14% of U.S. corn has been planted, versus the 5-year average of 33%. Only 8% of soybeans have been planted versus the 13% 5-year average, and 19% of spring wheat is planted, versus the 28% 5-year average. "Very little planting progress was made last week which is not surprising given recent weather conditions," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor in a note. Mr. Setzer added that while last week's progress is slow, farmers are expected to accelerate their pace this week--which put pressure on grains today.


INSIGHTS


Getting Better: The sentiment of U.S. farmers has improved over the past month, according to a survey performed by the CME Group and Purdue University. Farmers are cautiously optimistic, amid near-record prices for farm commodities. "Rising prices for major commodities, especially corn and soybeans, appear to be leading the change in producers' improved financial outlook," said James Mintert of Purdue University. Even with an improved sentiment, farmers are less optimistic than this time last year--and farmers continue to be concerned about high input costs.

Winding Down: Inventories of ethanol in the U.S. are expected to continue to fall in this week's EIA report, according to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones this week. Analysts forecast stocks to total anywhere from 23.52 million barrels to 23.87 million barrels for the week ended April 29, which would be down from 23.97 million barrels reported last week. If inventories do fall within the projected range, then it'll be the fifth week in a row that they've fallen. Meanwhile, daily production is expected to land between 952,000 barrels per day and 973,000 barrels per day, versus 963,000 barrels per day reported last week.


AHEAD:

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

-Corteva Inc. will release its first quarter earnings report after the stock market closes on Wednesday.

-Ingredion Inc. will release its first quarter earnings report at 7 a.m. ET Thursday.

-Zoetis Inc. will release its first quarter earnings report before the stock market opens Thursday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-03-22 1502ET