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

1551 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME snapped a five-session losing streak, closing up 0.2% to $2.1915 a pound. The Tyson beef plant closures and weak cash prices are the "major headwinds" of that streak, says the Hightower Report in a note -- with the firm projecting that "the recent downtrend may have more to run." Lean hog futures sank 2.3% on the day, to 70.825 cents a pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1503 ET - Oil futures edge up in cautious trading as the market weighs conflicting reports of how much oil is getting through the Strait of Hormuz. "Extraordinary workarounds are compensating for a badly impaired shipping route," Siebert Financial's chief investment officer Mark Malek says in a note. "Alternative oil routes demonstrate impressive resilience, but resilience is not the same as excess capacity." Tanker relays and pipelines can buy time but don't replace unrestricted access through the strait, he says. U.S. government figures suggest considerably more oil is escaping the region than vessel-tracking data would seem to indicate, Malek adds. "When the official number and the observable number disagree by this much, the observable number usually wins the argument eventually." WTI settles up 0.5% at $84.94 a barrel and Brent rises 0.2% to $91.02. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1501 ET - U.S. natural gas futures rise as weather models add some heat to the near-term outlook, while LNG feedgas flows continue recovering. "This market will remain heavily reliant upon a long-awaited upswing in export activity once LNG infrastructure maintenance is completed but for now, the short supply in Europe that has been boosting gas prices remains largely inoperable as a supportive consideration to the U.S. market," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. For now the market "appears too late to sell but a bit too early to buy," the firm adds. Nymex natural gas settles up 3.2% at $2.776/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1430 ET - Gold and silver futures settle lower for the day, as bonds sell off and Treasury yields rise to multi-year highs. As a longer-term war with Iran looms over the market, precious metals haven't been behaving as safe-haven assets, but that may be changing. "Gold tends to benefit when policy signals become harder to interpret," says Michael Widmer of Bank of America in a note. Widmer also says demand has been resilient, although it'll take higher demand from ETFs to drive an upside price breakout. Front-month gold falls 1.2% to $4,366/oz, while silver loses 3.3% to $63.941/oz. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1234 ET - The CME is changing the price limits that govern how much lean hog futures can move in any direction. The exchange says that effective Aug. 31, the new initial price limit for lean hog futures will be 4.25 cents a pound, down from the current limit of 4.75 cents a pound. The expanded limit will now be 6.25 cents a pound. The expanded limit will become the active limit for the day after the initial limit is reached in the prior trading session.The CME adds that price limits will not be enforced on front-month lean hog contracts during their last two trading days. Lean hog futures are down 2.7% to 70.58 cents a pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1159 ET - CBOT corn futures started the day on a higher note due to less-than-optimal yields reported from the first day of the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, but that uptick evaporates as the morning progresses. Most-active corn futures are now down 0.2%. "Corn was up early in the session on more inflation buying by funds, but fell off on U.S. old crop farmer selling," says Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. "It feels like we have made our range for the day." Corn started the day at $4.92 a bushel, which for many farmers is over the break-even price they need to have profitable corn acres come harvest season. Soybeans are up 0.7%, and wheat falls 0.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1147 ET - Oil futures extend gains after President Trump says there are no talks occurring or scheduled with Iran, and that the Strait of Hormuz is open and operating. "There's no talks happening and that's all that the market heard," says NinjaTrader Group senior economist Tracy Shuchart. While workarounds have helped keep oil prices from soaring, the stress is showing up in products with Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries adding to the problem, she adds. Crude market volatility has eased, but "I think we're higher-for-longer oil and seem to be rotating Brent around $90 and WTI around $85, which is still $20 to $25 higher than last year," Shuchart adds. WTI is up 1.2% at $85.49 a barrel and Brent is 0.9% higher at $91.71. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1030 ET - U.S. natural gas futures continue their recent range-bound pattern, falling one day and rising the next, with summer heat-driven demand offset by high production and ample inventories. "Record output and the storage overhang are simply overpowering whatever residual weather-driven power burn is still left in the late-summer schedule," Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group says in a note. "Nothing in the current outlook screams massive incremental power-burn demand." Nymex natural gas is up 0.9% at $2.715/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1015 ET - The USDA says that China purchased 136,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year, that follows multiple Chinese purchases since the start of the month. Improved demand for U.S. soybeans is giving support as prices rise back over the $12 mark, nearing year-to-date highs. CBOT soybeans are up 1.2%, while corn rises 0.5% and wheat is down 0.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1007 ET - Lean hog futures open down 0.7%, with a streak of selling seen last week continuing. One factor pressing on hogs appears to be seasonally weak consumer demand for pork -- with average cutout prices reported by the USDA staying under the $100 per hundredweight threshold. Meanwhile, live cattle futures rebound after inching lower Monday, with the most-active contract up 0.9% in early trading. Weakness in cattle futures has been a factor extending into hogs, says Joe Davis of Futures International in a note. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

0940 ET - Fading hopes for an agreement anytime soon to resolve the U.S.-Iran conflict keep oil futures buoyant with both sides claiming to have control of the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping disruption remains a concern for crude oil and product supply, with the drawdown in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level since the early 1980s compounding the unease, Kaynat Chainwala of Kotak Neo says in a note. "Prices stay hostage to Hormuz transit data and any signal from the Iran-Oman channel. A durable reopening would cap upside, while further escalation points toward a retest of the $95 to $100/barrel band for Brent." Brent is up 0.2% at $91.09 a barrel. WTI is 0.9%higher at $85.27.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0854 ET - The first day of the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour concluded with lower ear counts for corn in Ohio and South Dakota, as well as soybean pod counts under where they were last year. Surveys estimate Ohio's corn yield at 180.2 bushels an acre, which is well down from 185.7 bpa the year prior. In South Dakota, yield was pegged at 149.1 bpa, down 14.4% from 174.2 bpa last year. The pod count for soybeans surveyed in South Dakota fell 20% from the prior year, while in Ohio they were down 7%. Corn and soybean futures on the CBOT are higher premarket, with corn up 0.3% and soybeans climbing 0.6%. Wheat futures are virtually flat.