General:

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

May’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed inflation pressures eased on a monthly basis despite investor concerns that President Trump’s tariffs would accelerate the pace of price increases.

The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.1% month over month, below April’s 0.2% rise and lower than economists’ estimates of a 0.2% monthly gain in prices.

Energies:

Crude Oil

West Texas crude oil futures rallied to pre-“Liberation Day” levels as the U.S. and China tentatively reached a trade agreement. More consequentially, doubts grew that the U.S. and Iran were close to reaching a nuclear deal.

President Trump said he was losing confidence that a nuclear deal would be agreed upon, and Iran’s defense minister said his country would target U.S. military bases in the region if conflict broke out with the United States.

Amid those threats, the United States is evacuating diplomatic personnel from Iraq, a State Department official told the Middle East independent news Al-Monitor this afternoon.

Momentum likely also drew from this morning’s EIA’s report of a bigger-than-expected 3.6-million-barrel draw in U.S. crude stocks.

Grains:

Soybean, Corn

Conversely, Chicago Board of Trade soybean and corn futures drifted lower into the close of trading as uncertainty grew on a lack of specifics about agricultural goods in the framework of those same U.S. / China trade negotiations. China is the world’s biggest soybean importer, while the U.S. is the No. 2 exporter of the oilseed.