---
title: 4/17/2026 Weekly Market Recap — Texas Hedge
description: "This week's trade was marked by high volatility, particularly in crude oil and cattle, as markets reacted to geopolitical events, supply dynamics, and technical pressures.   Commodities Overview      Grains : Prices were mostly flat to soft due to favorable U.S. planting progress, robust supplies, a"
---

[TXRM Blog](https://blog.texashedgerisk.com/txrm-blog)

# [4/17/2026 Weekly Market Recap — Texas Hedge](https://blog.texashedgerisk.com/txrm-blog/blog/4172026-weekly-market-recap)

 Written by [Brynna Haschke](https://blog.texashedgerisk.com/txrm-blog/author/brynna-haschke) | Apr 17, 2026, 5:00:00 AM

This week's trade was marked by high volatility, particularly in crude oil and cattle, as markets reacted to geopolitical events, supply dynamics, and technical pressures.

**Commodities Overview**

- **Grains**: Prices were mostly flat to soft due to favorable U.S. planting progress, robust supplies, and varied weather outlooks.
  
    - **Corn**: Nearby May contracts saw slight weekly losses, closing near $4.48/bu after modest daily fluctuations and technical selling.
    - **Soybeans**: Nearby May traded choppily around $11.6575/bu, ending modestly lower on pressure from Brazilian supplies, despite some support from meal demand.
    - **Wheat** (Chicago SRW): Nearby May was volatile, settling near $5.8975/bu after initial gains based on drought concerns faded. There is also some added fear from potential frost risk over the weekend
- **Cattle**: Live and feeder cattle futures initially surged, approaching or hitting contract highs on tight supply fundamentals and strong cash trade. However, profit-taking and pre-report selling caused a sharp decline on Thursday and Friday, leading to lower closes.
  
    - **Live Cattle**: Nearby May contracts, which opened sharply higher, closed at $247.15 after Thursday's significant drop ($2–$3.50+).
    - **Feeder Cattle**:  Feeders spiked lower hitting limit down for a short period of time over rumors of the Mexican border reopening. Brooke Rollins also held a press conference sharing news of a sterile fly facility near the southern border to help work towards eradicating the screwworm threat. Nearby May contracts rallied early before falling to $365 by the close.
- **Crude Oil (WTI)**: Extreme volatility was driven by U.S.-Iran geopolitical tensions. Nearby May contracts initially spiked on fears of a Hormuz Strait disruption but then plummeted to close around $83.51 as tensions eased and the strait remained open.

**Key Report**

- **USDA Cattle on Feed Report**: The April 1 data, released today (April 17), was viewed as mostly neutral-to-bullish, reinforcing the tight supply narrative. On-feed inventories were estimated at 99% and actual was also 99%. Cattle placed in March was estimated at 93% and actual was 93%. The estimates for cattle marketed in March were 93% and actual was 94%.

**Equity Markets**

- **S&P 500**: The index saw a strong rally, climbing steadily to approximately 7166. It gained roughly 3% for the week, recovering prior losses on optimism for a ceasefire, softer inflation data, and general risk-on sentiment.

[View full post](https://blog.texashedgerisk.com/txrm-blog/blog/4172026-weekly-market-recap)

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