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

1600 ET - U.S. natural gas futures give back most of last week's gains as the heat than has kept up power-sector demand is set to dissipate. NatGasWeather.com notes "the same bearish factors that were in play last week," including strong U.S. production, weaker LNG exports and a bearish coming weather pattern. National demand will drop to "low to very low" for the 3-15 day period with the southern U.S. cooling several degrees while the rest of the country "will remain perfect temperaturewise," the forecaster adds. Nymex natural gas settles down 2.6% at $2.836/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1548 ET - Oil futures extend their slide to four sessions on easing concerns about oil flows out of the Middle East and expectations for renewed diplomatic efforts to bring the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. "Prospects for renewed U.S.-Iran engagement during this week's U.N. General Assembly have created a potential path toward de-escalation, despite the absence of a formal breakthrough," Gelber & Associates says in a note.Continued Houthi attacks and shipping constraints "indicate that the selloff reflects improving expectations rather than normalized Middle Eastern flows." WTI settles down 4.5% at $95.78 a barrel and Brent falls 3.4% to $100.34 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1438 ET - Last week's wheat export inspections were down from the week before and from the year-earlier week, with marketing year-to-date inspections off 31% from this time last year. Despite the slow start to the 2026/27 marketing year, "it's still too early for concern given the ongoing effective closure of the Black Sea and potential for mounting quality issues on the Canadian Prairies, especially with the size of this year's U.S. crop also playing a role," Mike Castle of StoneX says in a note. Buyers are diversifying sources for wheat imports because of disruptions to Russian and Ukrainian shipments, "but the ultimate question is whether this shift in trade flows ends up driving more demand for U.S. wheat," he adds. Wheat futures are up 1.7% on CBOT. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1412 ET - Gold futures settle lower, snapping a three-session winning streak. "Several conflicting fundamental factors are shaping the market between support and pressure," Rania Gule of XS.com says in a note. Higher interest rates and U.S. yields have become a direct headwind for gold, but "I do not believe that higher interest rates necessarily mark the beginning of a prolonged bearish trend," she says.A decisive break above $4,400 would show buyers able to absorb the impact of a stronger dollar and higher yields, while failure to break through that level keeps open the possibility of gold testing previous support zones, Gule adds. Front-month gold settles down 0.9% in New York at $4,345.80 a troy ounce. Silver falls 1.1% to $65.825 a troy ounce.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1350 ET - Darden Restaurants' full-year outlook still looks achievable, Baird analysts say in a research note. Despite concerns that rising gas prices will cause a consumer spending pullback, the analysts say they haven't seen any signs of softer casual dining trends. "We believe Darden is well positioned to sustain healthy comp growth in a range of economic scenarios," they say. The analysts note, though, that they aren't expecting Darden's management team to quantity quarter-to-date trends. Instead, management is more likely to express its confidence in the resilience of the casual-dining occasion. The owner of LongHorn Steakhouse and Olive Garden is scheduled to report quarterly results Thursday. (connor.hart@wsj.com)

1259 ET - Corn futures add to early gains with support from wet weekend weather that likely slowed harvesting, continued Russia-Ukraine fighting, and a USDA report showing higher export inspections for last week. There were big rains over the weekend, although it "looks like things have a chance to dry out this week, then harvest can get going," Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing says in a note. Corn is up 2.9% on CBOT with grains broadly higher ahead of this week's Trump-Xi summit. Soybeans are up 1.8% and wheat is gaining 1.9%. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1129 ET - Artemis Gold's acquisition Vista Gold adds scale and a pathway toward 1 million ounces of annual gold production. TD Cowen analyst Wayne Lam says in a report "the acquisition providing ARTG with the addition of a large scale growth project and pathway towards 1 Moz of production annually," noting that the additional reserves at Mt Todd of 5.2 million ounces at 0.94 grams of gold per ton and total resources of 10.6 million ounces at 0.83 grams per ton. Shares of Artemis are trading 6.1% lower at C$38.52, and Lam says this could be due to "questions around timing of advancement/construction given current build out of the C$1.44B EP2 [expanded phase 2] expansion." Vista Gold shares are up 15% to C$3.69. (adriano.marchese@wsj.com)

1114 ET - Cattle futures are higher after the USDA on Friday reported the lowest placements on feedlots for August on records stretching back to 1996. The 1.62 million head placed in August were 9% below the year-earlier month. Marketings of fed cattle at 1.52 million head were down3% on the year and also a record low for August. Cattle and calves on feed as of Sept. 1 stood at 11.2 million head, up 1% from a year earlier. "As weather cools, more cattle should be placed and marketing should increase," Chris Lehner of ADM Investor Services says in a note. Imported Mexican cattle should also start to show up in placements, he adds. Live cattle are up 1.7% on CME. Lean hogs rise 1.5%. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1030 ET - Gold futures are lower after rising the previous three sessions, with the market focused on U.S. yields and Fed interest-rate policy. "It's a tough environment for gold in the short term, and the macro trends we're seeing in pricing from the typical markets that feed into and influence the gold price suggest investors and traders will shy away from the yellow metal until these dynamics become more favorable," Pepperstone's head of research Chris Weston says in a note. The U.S. dollar is a small headwind, and while oil prices have pulled back from recent highs, any reversal higher that builds inflation expectations would "only intensify the rates story," he adds. Gold for December delivery is off 1.1% in New York at $4,375.50 a troy ounce. Silver is down 0.8% at $66.605 a troy ounce. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0949 ET - U.S. grains futures are higher to start the week as the market holds out hopes that the meeting between President Trump and China's Xi Jinping will include Chinese commitments to buy more U.S. agricultural products. "U.S. grains should benefit from this week's meeting as U.S. President Trump looks for a diplomatic win ahead of the midterms," AgResource says in a note. "There is also high hope that China will drop its 10% tariff on U.S. soybeans and grain." CBOT soybeans are up 1.1%, corn gains 1.4% and wheat climbs 1.3%. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0939 ET - Oil futures extend their slide to a fourth session on optimism about flows returning soon through Saudi Arabia's damaged East-West pipeline and about efforts to revive talks between the U.S. and Iran. U.S. Central Command head Admiral Brad Cooper said at the weekend that in the past two weeks, the volume of oil and cargo making it through the Strait of Hormuz was the highest of the past six months. WTI is down 3.8% at $96.49 a barrel and Brent falls 3.1% to $100.65 a barrel.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

0935 ET - U.S. natural gas futures start of the week lower as weather-driven demand is set to ease with a cooling of temperatures. "The gas market is pulling back partially in sympathy with lower oil prices and continued mild temperature forecasts across key consuming regions," Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note. Prices could find support from the shrinkage in the storage surplus, which is likely to continue through the end of September and "is a significant bullish consideration in our opinion," the firm says. Nymex natural gas is down 2.1% at $2.850/mmBtu.