TOP STORIES:

Corn Drops on Rainfall Outlook, Supreme Court Ruling

Corn for December delivery fell 3.1% to $5.19 1/4 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade Friday, in response to weather models showing strong rainfall in many growing areas, as well as the Supreme Court siding with the EPA on the issue of biofuel waivers. Wheat for September delivery fell 1.7% to $6.40 3/4 a bushel. Soybeans for November delivery fell 1.7% to $12.69 3/4 a bushel.

Trading of grains futures on the CBOT Friday continued to be driven largely by weather models, with indications of heavy rainfall pressuring grains futures once again. "More than a foot of rain fell over portions of northwestern Missouri overnight, within an area of very heavy rains that stretched from northeast Kansas in a streak across Missouri," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. "More heavy rains are expected across this area over the next several days, stretching east into far southeastern Iowa, northern Illinois and Indiana." Areas of South Dakota and North Dakota continue to have areas of soil dryness, which may impact specifically U.S. wheat going forward.

Grains Stocks Expected to Turn Lower -- Market Talk

1235 ET - Analysts surveyed by WSJ about next week's quarterly USDA stocks report forecast that corn stocks will fall to roughly 4.2B bushels through June 1, down from 5B bushels at this time last year. Meanwhile, soybean stocks are expected to decline to 795M bushels from 1.38B bushels last year, and wheat stocks are projected to fall to 858M bushels from 1.03B bushels last year. The stocks report, along with the annual planted acreage report, is due out at noon eastern time on June 30. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Analysts Forecast Planted Acre Growth of 3M -- Market Talk

12:15 ET - Analysts surveyed by WSJ this week forecast that US farmers may have planted as much as 183M acres of corn and soybeans this spring, up from the 180M estimated by the USDA in March. If this holds true it'll be the highest amount of combined corn and soybean acreage on record, with corn leading the way, rising from 91M acres to 94M acres. Meanwhile, wheat acres are expected to slightly decrease, analysts says. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

STORIES OF INTEREST:

Danone 1H Margin Has Support But Cost Inflation Will Hit 2H -- Market Talk

1000 GMT - Danone's first-half margin looks slightly less at risk than anticipated, supported by hedging and pre-emptive measures, says Citi. The French food company should be able to contain earnings downgrade risks until it updates its strategy, as it also enjoys a small margin recovery in the waters business and resilience in essential dairy and plant-based products, according to the bank. The second half of the year instead looks more complex, with cost inflation starting to weigh and pricing failing to fully absorb the hit, Citi says. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

Missfresh Prices IPO of 21 Million ADSs at $13/ADS

Missfresh Limited said it has priced its initial public offering of 21 million American depositary shares at $13 per ADS for a total offering size of $273 million.

Each ADS represents three Class B ordinary shares of the company.

The ADSs are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday under the ticker symbol "MF."

THE MARKETS:

U.S. Cattle on Feed Rise

Heads of cattle on feed for the slaughter market are up 5% versus this time last year, the USDA said Friday.

In its monthly Cattle on Feed report, the USDA said that cattle-on-feed inventory through June 1 totaled 11.7 million head, 105% of where it was last year. It's the second-highest June inventories have been since the USDA began keeping records in 1996.

Feedlot placements totaled 1.91 million head, down 7% from June 1 of last year. This is a larger decrease than forecast by analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week, who had expected a 5% dip.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-25-21 1736ET