For those who believe in Santa Claus, he might have visited stock markets around the world before making his rounds with toys. Natural gas futures initially rose on firm cash and expectations of colder weather, then crashed in a massive sell-off ahead of the Christmas holiday. AGA reported drawdowns totaling -189 bcf for the two weeks. Fear that promised Russian supplies won't be delivered or may be delayed prompted the buying. Gold and silver trading was quiet and rangebound.
Soybeans continue to find strength from talk of extended hot, dry conditions in Brazil.
Wheat traders drew comfort from talk of disappointing early Argentine wheat yields and generally dry conditions prevailing in pockets of the western wheat belt. Corn price advances continue to be tempered by the bearish world oversupply of grains. First coffee futures fell because it was raining in Brazil. A threatened strike by Ivory Coast producers buoyed cocoa prices early, which later dropped to new lows when the strike was cancelled. A military coupe d'etat overthrew the elected government in the Ivory Coast on Christmas Eve.