Welcome to Markets Desk, your end-of-week wrap on the stories moving markets.
Corn futures closed sharply lower on Friday despite the USDA cutting its yield estimate, a classic sell-the-fact reaction. December corn shed six and a half cents on the week, with the national cash average settling near four dollars and eighty-four cents. Traders had priced in the bullish data ahead of the report, leaving little fuel for a rally.
Turning to the cattle pits, live cattle put in a strong finish, with Friday's session seeing gains of one dollar seventy-five to two dollars eighty-five, capping a week where October contracts surged nearly seven dollars. Cash trade firmed considerably, with sales reported one to six dollars higher in the two twenty-two to two twenty-five range, reflecting tight supply and steady packer demand heading into the weekend.
Meanwhile, CPI Card Group shares cratered after private equity firm Parallel Forty-Nine Equity disclosed plans to sell somewhere between two point three and two point seven million shares of stock. Secondary offerings of this size signal a major holder heading for the exit, and markets punished the news swiftly, as they almost always do when a large institutional seller steps into a thinly traded name.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
