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

1527 ET - Live cattle and lean hog futures on the CME finish lower after starting the day higher -- with traders sliding into being risk-off on livestock even as other segments like grains and oilseeds gained on implications that tariffs coming into force before many U.S. farmers start planting will change their outlook for how many acres they plant. For livestock, cutting exposure to risk was still a chief focus. "[Livestock] is trading uncertainty as much as anything and trying to minimize risk," says Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting in a note. Live cattle finish down 0.2% to $1.94375 a pound, while hogs fell 0.2% to 90.825 cents a pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1520 ET - Crude oil futures give up early gains and fall for a fourth straight session as continuing trade wars add to concerns about loss of demand. "Unfortunately for crude oil, tariff demand destruction is only half of the problem," Mizuho's Robert Yawger says in a note, pointing the OPEC+ decision to add more than 400,000 barrels a day to output next month on top of this month's 138,000 barrels a day increase. OPEC and the IEA are likely to cut their demand estimates in next week's monthly reports, he adds. "It will be interesting to see how OPEC justifies increasing May production by a total of 538,000 barrels a day." WTI settles down 1.8% at $59.58 a barrel, and Brent falls 2.2% to $62.82 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1454 ET - U.S. natural gas futures fall for a third straight session, giving up opening gains as trade battles between the U.S. and China continue to roil markets, with the U.S. planning to impose an additional 50% tariff on China after midnight. "As an industrial commodity, the gas market is subject to the negative influence of the tariffs," Ritterbusch says in a note. Adding to the bearish mood could be this week's natural gas inventory report which is likely to show a further reduction in the storage deficit, the firm says. Nymex natural gas settles down 5.2% at $3.465/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1404 ET - Markets know the size of last week's reciprocal tariffs, but they don't know how the negotiations to remove the tariffs are going. "The administration has hinted that many nations now seek negotiations, and a call between Trump and South Korean leader Han Duck-soo reportedly went well but details are lacking," AgResource says in a note. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier today that additional tariffs are beginning against China at 12:01 a.m. eastern time, this after China issued its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. CBOT grains are up in late trading, while other commodities like industrial metals and crude oil sink. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1346 ET - Oil futures give up early gains and are lower for a fourth straight session as the U.S. trade dispute with China shows no sign of easing, with the U.S. intending to impose an additional 50% tariff on China at midnight. "China has said they will continue the fight against tariffs and some traders fear they could slow or halt U.S. crude purchases altogether," Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note. "Add in the raising of production by OPEC+ and crude still has some major headwinds." WTI is off 1.6% at $59.74 and Brent is down 1.8% at $63.02 a barrel. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1317 ET - A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators sent a letter to EPA head Lee Zeldin advocating for higher blending volumes of biofuels with other motor fuels. "We ask that the EPA raise RFS volumes for biomass-based diesel and advanced biofuels to levels that are consistent with production and availability," the Senators say in the letter, which is signed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Min.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) among others. "Biofuels are a large economic driver for rural America as farmers' crops are used for feedstocks and many production facilities are located in small communities," the letter reads. "That is at risk if RVO standards are set too low." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1203 ET - CBOT wheat futures are up 0.6%, with factors outside of tariffs supporting wheat this week. That includes the large short position held by fund traders in wheat, according to CFTC data. Fund traders hold a net short of roughly 186,000 contracts, per the report. "If wheat can find some friendly news- with as short as the funds are - there could be a reason to see significant short covering by the funds - but we need a legitimate fundamental catalyst," says Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing in a note. Wheat is following commodities and other markets higher after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that President Trump is open for negotiating deals to remove tariffs - claiming that roughly 70 countries have reached out to begin those negotiations. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1201 ET - Gold futures recoup some lost ground as safe-haven demand grows. Futures are up 1.5% at $3,019 a troy ounce, though they sit down 4.2% on week after investors liquidated positions in prior sessions to cover losses elsewhere in the market. Despite the short-lived downward correction, the precious metal is emerging as a first-rate asset, ActivTrades' Ion Jauregui says in a note. Tariff policies are set to generate inflation and increase economic uncertainty, forcing banks and large investors to rethink their strategies. This should drive up interest in gold as a refuge against the devaluation of other assets, Jauregui says. The convergence of factors including tariff uncertainty, rising inflation and intensifying geopolitical concerns suggests gold could reach, or even exceed $4,000 a troy ounce as the increasing money supply pushes the valuation of the metal, Jauregui adds. (joseph.hoppe@wsj.com)

1146 ET - U.S. farmers are expected to have difficulties selling grains this year due to the reciprocal tariffs levied by President Trump last week. While proponents of tariffs hope that trade reorganization are ultimately beneficial for farmers and crop export demand, they acknowledge that in the short-term difficulties exist, says Gregg Doud of the National Milk Producers Federation. "About 100 million tons of 167 million tons of world trade is China, and that's a real challenge for everybody in the corn and soybean business today and the fact that the Chinese economy is soft and demand is flat there," says Doud in an interview with CNN today. "And so there aren't a whole lot of options for the folks on the soybean side of the equation today." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1012 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME are up 1.1%, riding higher as overall markets make up ground from the selling seen on tariff turmoil. Cattle futures are now seen as attractively-priced for bargain hunters, says AgResource in a note. "Massive liquidation has driven CME prices far below fair fundamental values," says the firm. Lean hog futures are up 1.4% in early trading. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

0953 ET - The USDA has confirmed a new flash sale of corn, reporting that Spain has purchased 240,000 metric tons of corn for delivery in the 2024/25 marketing year. Corn has been the leading seller among U.S. row crops, although the reciprocal tariffs issued by President Trump last week have complicated trade and sources of demand for U.S. crops. CBOT corn is up 0.5% pre-market, while soybeans up 1.1% and wheat up 1.3%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

0949 ET - U.S. natural gas futures pick up after two days of losses, recovering some lost ground along with oil and other markets. Macroeconomic uncertainty, risk-off across markets and the unwinding of large speculator net long positions are driving prices, Eli Rubin of EBW Analytics says in a note. "While near-term natural gas supply and demand may be less affected by tariffs, the deleveraging in Nymex futures realigns prices with soft seasonal fundamentals." Natural gas is up 2% at $3.728/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 08, 2025 16:15 ET (20:15 GMT)

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