The latest Market Talks covering Commodities. Published exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires throughout the day.

1533 ET - Oil futures end the week higher with no progress made toward resolving the U.S.-Iran conflict, and the U.S. planning to tighten the economic squeeze on Iran rather than renew major military action. While geopolitics remain the main driver of oil prices, "the continuation of tensions alone is no longer creating the same price shock as before," Linh Tran of XS.com says in a note. "The market may now need a more significant escalation to materially change expectations for Middle East supply." WTI settles up 0.3% at $87.06for a 6.9% weekly gain. Brent rises 0.7% to $94.39 a barrel, up 6.6% on the week. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1531 ET - U.S. natural gas futures settle higher, rising for a second week in a row thanks to hot summer weather driving electricity-sector use to meet air conditioning demand. Gains have been modest in up-and-down trade, as strong production and an inventory surplus limit rally attempts and the market looks increasingly beyond August to cooler shoulder-season weather. "Currently most traders feel inventories remain ample entering the fall shoulder season, and the latest buying looks to be mostly short-covering," Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note. Nymex natural gas settles at $2.773/mmBtu, up 1.5% on the week.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1355 ET - The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by three this week to 452, and was up by 41 from a year ago, Baker Hughes reports. The EIA sees crude production rising to 14.2 million barrels a day in 2027 from 13.8 million b/d this year. With proved reserves below 10 years of production, U.S. production could be approaching a peak, Amapreet Singh of Barclays says in a note. "The decline in proved reserves to production ratio below the 10-year level has historically been a strong leading indicator for an inflection point in well-head production," he says, citing previous cases in Mexico, Nigeria, Angola and others. "Barring a step change in development technology, we believe U.S. crude oil production could peak in the coming years." (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1348 ET - CBOT grains are mixed in afternoon trading, with the gains seen throughout the day leaving the complex overworked and buying seen as overdone by analysts. "Consolidation is the theme following a dramatic week and as initial ideas of U.S. yield challenges are digested," says AgResource in a note. Pro Farmer will be releasing its final results of its surveying this week, this after in most cases corn and soybean crops were seen as smaller than this time last year. CBOT corn is up 0.6%, while soybeans are flat and wheat falls 0.5%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1249 ET - The Trump administration's efforts to cap bond yields is fueling the rally in gold and bitcoin, which capitalized on the situation, BankPro's CEO Paolo Broccardo says in a note. "The use of non-market methods by the authorities is fueling demand for alternative assets outside the traditional financial system." The Treasury Department's announcement that it will raise the amount of longer-term bond purchases, meanwhile, overshadowed the publication of the FOMC minutes, he adds. "Investors ignored the fact that the number of 'hawks' on the committee is growing, which could lead to higher interest rates." New York gold futures are up 2.1% at $4,667.60 an ounce. Bitcoin gains 6.5% and trades around $77,391. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1203 ET - CBOT grain futures are mixed in reaction to Pro Farmer crop tour data for Iowa and Minnesota released last night. Pro Farmer reported higher soybean pod counts in Minnesota versus this time last year, while corn yield came in 199 bushels an acre -- down 1.9% from the prior year. "Minnesota is the 'garden spot' for 2026 summer row crops," says AgResource in a note. Iowa corn yields came in at 193.9 bpa, which is down 2.2% from last year but still more than the 5-year average. Soybean pod counts fell 1.5% but were also higher than the 5-year average. CBOT corn futures rise 0.7%, while soybeans fall 0.1% and wheat slides 0.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1128 ET - Cocoa prices are moving higher on supply fears and the risk of El Nino, but erratic market movements are proving hard to explain, Rabobank's Oran van Dort says. Cocoa contracts have surged 18% in New York since a July 30 low. Ghana's cocoa board warned production would decline by 16% in the 2026-27 season, helping drive prices higher, Van Dort says, adding that cocoa trade this week has been volatile. "The daily moves we are seeing are feeling harder to justify at times. It feels like large moves are no longer reserved for big data releases." Cocoa trades down 0.7% Friday at $6,020 a ton.(josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)

1128 ET - The USDA confirmed a new flash sale of U.S. grain exports Friday, which included a sale of 712,000 metric tons of soybeans to China for delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year. The USDA also says that 720,000 tons of soybeans were sold to unknown destinations for delivery in 2026/27, and 205,000 tons of corn were "received in the reporting period" by the USDA for unknown destinations for 2026/27. But soybean futures on the CBOT are down 0.1% in early trading. "Soybean futures were lower overnight as weekly export sales softened and rain was forecast for parts of the Corn Belt," says Joe Davis of Futures International in a note. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1048 ET - Copper prices hold above $14,000 a metric ton after edging lower in recent days. The decline was partly driven by a sharp increase in copper stocks held in LME warehouses: total copper inventories climbed by 34,000 tons from last Friday to nearly 240,000 tons, according to Commerzbank. The rise in stocks provides some short-term relief for the well-supplied global market. However, China's copper production showed signs of weakening. Output fell 3.7% in July from the previous month and was only 1.3% higher than a year earlier. "A significant slowdown in China's copper production could lead to a shortage in the global copper market, which has so far remained well-supplied," analysts at the bank say. LME copper futures are up 0.9% to $14,172.50 a ton. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

1042 ET - Gold's rally is being amplified by strong demand for call options, Goldman Sachs says. "As gold prices approach key strike levels, dealers that have sold these calls may be forced to buy gold to hedge their exposure, accelerating the rally," analysts at the bank say. At the same time, expectations for further Fed rate hikes have weakened after softer U.S. employment and inflation data, supporting renewed demand from Western investors and gold ETFs. Goldman sees significant upside risk to its $4,900-an-ounce end-2026 estimates, but says its forecast doesn't account for the current surge in call-option positioning. "Any pullback in the gold price can prompt dealers to unwind those hedges, adding selling pressure and amplifying the price downside," analysts say.(giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

1018 ET - Live cattle futures on the CME are down 2.1% to $2.136 a pound after President Trump calls for an increase in the amount of beef being imported into the U.S. On Truth Social, Trump says that the U.S. will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported into the country without any "out of quota tariff," to be sold "at 25 percent below current market prices," which is pressing on the futures contract. Most-active cattle futures are closing in on their lowest level since November, according to FactSet data. The drop comes ahead of the USDA's Cattle on Feed report this afternoon. Lean hogs fall 0.1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1001 ET - Natural gas futures start the day higher with help from hotter near-term weather forecasts, while gains remain limited by comfortable storage levels. "The next 15 days are back to being solidly bullish as daily national CDDs [cooling degree days] are hotter/above normal each day," NatGasWeather.com says in a note. The market had shrugged off yesterday's small weekly storage injection as inventories remain well above average. "Next week's EIA report is also expected to print another smaller-than-normal build due to hot temperatures this past week and aided by lighter wind energy generation," NatGasWeather.com says. Nymex natural gas is up 1.6% at $2.777/mmBtu.