CORN: Corn futures worked strongly higher today. Mar closed 9-1/4 higher at 6.36-1/4, in a reversal of yesterday's action. The trading range was wide between 6.21-3/4 and 6.37. Volume was heavy. Dec settled 8-1/4 higher at 5.68. First technical support and resistance are at 6.18 and 6.46. According to technical theory prices are most likely to trade within this range over the near term. The corn market advanced on the drop in the dollar index, the stock market advance and advancing oil prices. Weekly export sales were considerably above expectations at over 1 mmt. Click here to access latest futures quotations.

SOYBEANS: Soybean futures worked narrowly lower today. Mar closed 2-3/4 lower at 12.58-1/4. Sep was down 4-1/2 at 12.61-1/4. Trade was active. Soybean prices were weaker due to declines in soy products. Soybean futures traded lower for the first time in 5 sessions.The corn/soy ratio was 1.98 compared to 1.92 a week ago and 1.96 a month ago. Soybean oil ended 0.30 to 0.31 lower with Mar at 53.05. Soy oil share was 46.3% today vs 46.9% a week ago and 47.1% a month ago. Meal closed 2.00 to 1.50 lower with Mar at 330.80. Technical first support and resistance for beans is 12.35/12.84, oil at 52.17/54.39 and meal 324.39/338.68. Click here for current soybean futures prices.

WHEAT: Wheat worked higher today. Mar closed 2-3/4 higher at 6.28-3/4. Trade was heavy. May was up 1-1/4 at 6.35-1/4. Chicago open interest was up 7,595 contracts. Chicago wheat was supported by the lower dollar and a general lack of selling interest. New-crop KCBT and Minneapolis futures were up sharply on dryness and winterkill concerns.KCBT Mar wheat closed 13 higher at 6.83. Minneapolis Mar settled 6-3/4 higher at 8.17-3/4. The KCBT-Chicago spread for the spot month was 54 vs 49 a week ago and 68 a month ago. Minneapolis-Chicago was 189, 180 and 203. First technical support and resistance are 6.17/ 6.53 for Chicago wheat, 6.58/ 6.98 for KCBT and 7.99/ 8.34 for Minneapolis. Click here for latest Chicago futures.

CATTLE: Live cattle futures for Feb settled 0.30 higher at 126.80. Aug was up 0.15 at 129.28. Cattle futures set life-of-contract highs. Cattle advanced on stronger financial markets. Live and feder cattle futures set new contract highs.Estimated cattle slaughter for the day was 122,000 vs 131,000 for the same year-ago date. Feeder cattle for Mar ended 0.25 higher at 156.88 with the day's range of 156.43 to 157.55. Aug was 0.33 higher at 161.80. Contract highs were set for feeder cattle. Click here for CME live cattle futures prices or here for feeder cattle prices.

HOGS: Lean hog futures for Apr closed 1.05 higher at 89.95. Jul was 0.55 higher, closing at 99.65. Hogs futures responded to very strong exports. Click here for latest lean hog futures prices.

OUTSIDE MARKETS: The US dollar index was at 79.50 today, down 0.28. The dollar weakened against the euro and yen. Stock markets were higher in late afternoon with the Dow up 123 at 12904, the S&P 500 up 14 at 1358 and NASDAQ up 44 at 2959. Crude oil closed at $102.36, up 0.56. Precious metals were mainly lower with gold closing at $1,730, 2.00 higher. For the week so far the dollar index is up 0.42 and the Dow is up 30.