TOP STORIES

Smucker to Benefit from Changes to Consumer Behavior -- Market Talk

1637 ET - JM Smucker, the company behind Jif peanut butter, fruit spreads and Uncrustables sandwiches, expects to profit as consumers eat more at home during the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Financial Officer Tucker Marshall said Tuesday. "The increased at-home consumption really [presents] another opportunity for our company, with consumers creating new behaviors that we expect to be lasting," Marshall said. Smucker reported net sales of $2.03 billion for the three months ended Oct. 31, up 4% compared with the prior year quarter. (nina.trentmann@wsj.com; @Nina_Trentmann)

STORIES OF INTEREST

Deere Sees Rising Sales of Farm, Construction Equipment -- Market Talk

1012 ET - Deere expects to outperform the broader farm and construction machinery markets next year. The company predicts worldwide sales of its farm and landscaping equipment will rise 10%-15% in fiscal 2021. That's higher than the company's regional sales outlooks for the farm equipment industry. It's forecasting a 5%-10% increase in sales of its construction and forestry equipment, even after predicting a 5% drop in industry-wide sales of construction equipment in North America. Shares down 1.9% at $256.65. (robert.tita@wsj.com; @bob_tita)

Wakefern's ShopRite To Pay Store Workers Hazard Pay -- Market Talk

1541 ET - Wakefern Food's ShopRite chain agreed to provide retroactive hazard pay to its store workers, according to the Union Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Under the agreement, the grocer will pay an additional dollar per hour for all hours worked between July 26 and Aug. 22. It will cover nearly 50,000 ShopRite employees represented by the union. Many food retailers ended bonus pay over the summer, prompting union groups and workers to fight for its restoration. (jaewon.kang@wsj.com; @_jaewonkang)

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures Rise on Light Volumes -- Market Talk

15:08 ET - Lean hog futures trading on the CME rose on light volumes, with the most-active contract rising 1.4% to 67.675 cents per pound. Pork cutouts rose slightly Wednesday, with the pork carcass cutout rising 56 cents per hundredweight to $78.14 per cwt, according to USDA data. Meanwhile, the live cattle contract rose 0.2% to $1.14175 per pound on higher volume -- making it 3.5% that the cattle futures contract has risen this month. The CME will be closed for Thanksgiving tomorrow, reopening for half of the day Friday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Nov 25 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Nov 25       +$ 38.44            +$ 39.20 
Nov 24       +$ 35.54            +$ 37.73 
Nov 23       +$ 35.11            +$ 38.14 
 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice  105.7 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  104.1 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday rose 76 cents per hundred pounds, to $245.06, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.19 per hundred pounds, to $220.90. The total load count was 116. Wholesale pork prices rose 68 cents, to $77.30 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2020 17:39 ET (22:39 GMT)