Commodities desk · Evening edition · Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Winter wheat condition improved five points in a week to 49% good to excellent, which gives wheat growers a firmer footing even as prices rose 1.35%
Wheat fell 10.86% over the 126 sessions to November 10, closing at 592.75; the high in that window was 767.00 on August 28 and the low 569.50 on June 29.
Drawn from the numbers stored with this edition; the same picture is on its share card.
Soybeans stood apart: its +3.57% move was 6.3 times its typical daily move, against 3.0 times for the next largest. On November 11, among commodities, Cotton led at +5.02% and Coffee lagged at -1.24%; 8 of 12 rose.
The picture on the morning edition's share card, drawn from the numbers stored with that edition, written Nov 11, 2026, 9:34 AM EST. The evening edition above replaced it as this day's latest edition.
Metals set the tone again, but the close tells a different story from the morning: gold gave up its early calm and finished lower while silver held a modest gain. A firm dollar and a 10-year yield at 5.00% kept the precious complex on the back foot even as equities rebounded. Energy finished firmer, with Brent edging up, but it is still well below where it was a month ago.
Agriculture split by crop. Cotton was the day's loudest mover and cocoa bounced after its slide, though no supplied headline says why for either. Wheat firmed, and winter wheat condition is better than normal after a five-point weekly gain. Natural gas reversed its morning climb and slipped, with storage just above the seasonal norm. On the Rhine, the water level at Kaub is 16 cm, a figure worth watching for barge traffic.
CNBC reported mortgage rates jumping after four weeks of declines on a hotter inflation report, and retail sales growing at their slowest pace in nearly a year as high prices strain households. For anyone holding real assets, that points to sticky inflation with softer growth, an awkward mix for metals and fuel to read, and a reason not to lean on any single hedge.
- Brent rose 1.07% to 92.47 and WTI 0.37% to 86.36, still well below a month ago.
- Diesel rose 1.76% to 4.20 while gasoline slipped 0.09%, with distillate stocks down 3.5% on the week to 2026-10-30.
- Natural gas fell 1.43% to 3.25, giving back the morning gain, with storage 0.7% above its seasonal norm.
- Gold fell 0.97% to 3,991.30, pressed by the firm dollar and the 5.00% yield.
- Silver rose 0.98% to 51.73, so it held a gain while gold lost ground.
- Copper rose 0.47% to 6.26 while platinum fund PPLT slipped 0.29% and palladium fund PALL rose 0.27%.
- Cotton jumped 4.65% to 82.35, the biggest mover in the group, with no supplied headline giving a reason.
- Cocoa rose 3.90% to 5,061 after falling 9.70% on the week, and wheat gained 1.35%.
- Winter wheat is rated 49% good to excellent, 5 points better on the week and above the 44% norm.
- Brent sits about 6.11 above WTI, a little wider than yesterday's gap of 5.45.
- Diesel at 4.20 stays far above gasoline at 2.57, with diesel up and gasoline flat.
- Gold fell while silver rose, so the gold to silver ratio narrowed from yesterday.
- Firm yields and a stronger dollar remain the main risk for metals, even when equities recover.
- Slower retail sales and sticky inflation argue for sizing real-asset exposure with care rather than relying on one hedge.
The VIX has fallen back to 17.52, well below its November 5 spike, as equities rebounded.
Cotton jumped to 82.35 in one session, its highest in this window, with no supplied reason.
Cocoa bounced to 5,061 after a slide to 4,742, the window's low, on November 10.
The numbers behind it
Top to bottom: Upstream driver, Commodity, Where it goes
- Upstream driver
Every move here is measured between two stored daily closes, so the reading belongs to a session rather than to a time of day. This block is cut at the 2026-11-11 session. Anything named as a driver comes from a stored series and never from a headline.
- Broad Commodities (DBC)30.84USD+0.26%
- Cocoa5,061USD/t+6.73%
- Cotton82.35cents/lb+4.65%
- Coffee265.45cents/lb-2.19%
- Brazil Cerrado rainfall7th percentileBrazil Cerrado rainfall sits in the 7th percentile of the same calendar window in earlier years, much drier than typical for the time of year, for the window ending 2026-11-05.2026-11-05
- West Africa cocoa belt rainfall93rd percentileWest Africa cocoa belt rainfall sits in the 93rd percentile of the same calendar window in earlier years, much wetter than typical for the time of year, for the window ending 2026-11-05.2026-11-05
- Corn448.75cents/bu-0.06%
- Soybeans1,230.50cents/bu+0.49%
- Soybean Oil63.88cents/lb+1.77%
- Corn and SoybeansDivergenceCorn against soybeans: -0.06% against +0.49% today, and the spread between them sits 1.6 standard deviations from its own average over the last 60 stored sessions.
- US Corn Belt temperature100th percentileUS Corn Belt temperature sits in the 100th percentile of the same calendar window in earlier years, much hotter than typical for the time of year, for the window ending 2026-11-05.2026-11-05
- US Corn Belt rainfall93rd percentileUS Corn Belt rainfall sits in the 93rd percentile of the same calendar window in earlier years, much wetter than typical for the time of year, for the window ending 2026-11-05.2026-11-05
Across the complex
- Metals all fell together while the dollar index rose, yet gold and silver parted by 1.9 standard deviations of their spread, so silver's larger drop separates its industrial half from haven demand.
- Cattle rose while hogs slipped, and their spread is 2.4 standard deviations from its 60 session average, with hogs down 21.46% over a month against 2.47% for cattle.
Go deeper
The Commodities desk's own dashboard: what is moving, why, and where it goes next. Open it
The desk voices are written by AI, not by human reporters. Every figure is taken from the listed market, sensor and headline data, and an automated check flags any figure or quoted source that is not.