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

1547 ET - U.S. natural gas futures fall for a second consecutive session as the market looks beyond this week's inventory report to cooler weather that's likely to cut demand heading into the shoulder season. The EIA is expected to report a 28 Bcf increase in underground storage for last week, according to a WSJ survey of analysts. That's smaller than the average 52 Bcf injection and would reduce the inventory surplus over the average to 136 Bcf from 160 Bcf the week before. Nymex natural gas settles down 3.2% at $2.822/mmBtu.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1532 ET - New York-traded diesel futures settle at their highest level since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war and their second highest ever as the flare-up in the U.S.-Iran conflict pushes up crude prices and threatens further supply loss. "Watch diesel harder than crude. That's where the real squeeze lives," Phil Flynn of the Price Futures Group says in a note. Ukrainian attacks on refineries that have led Russia to halt diesel exports, and Persian Gulf disruptions, are keeping prices high, he says. "Russia can't export diesel. The U.S. and India are running flat-out to fill the gap." Nymex diesel settles up 5.1% at $4.8010 a gallon, its highest close since April 28, 2022. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1529 ET - Livestock futures on the CME close lower, with volume for cutouts of either beef or pork being light, says StoneX in a note. That light volume persists in post-Labor Day trading - although through midday, the USDA reported a big jump in average pork carcass cutout prices, up $7.31 per hundredweight to $100.17 per cwt. The Goldman roll continues today, in which fund traders are seen as rolling short positions over to future months. Lean hog futures closed trading down 0.6% to 74.6 cents a pound, while live cattle futures settled down 0.4% to $2.1825 a pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1525 ET - Oil futures settle at their highest level since May 22 as strikes between the U.S. and Iran escalate and Houthis step up attacks on Saudi oil facilities. The escalation is cause for concern as inventories are low and drawing down and it doesn't look like the U.S. is making any progress with the conflict, says John Deal, managing director of capital markets at Post Oak Group. "I frankly think we're in really risky territory right now," he says, with significant risk of damage to infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. "I wouldn't be surprised, if this conflict doesn't wrap up soon, I think we could be looking at prices over $100 maybe as high as $120." Brent settles up 3.4% at $101.21 a barrel, and WTI rises 3.2% to $96.05. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1457 ET - Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones are forecasting inventories and average daily production of ethanol to fall back from the prior week. Analysts forecast that stocks could land anywhere from 24 million barrels to 25.24 million barrels, versus 25.04 million barrels reported by the EIA last week. Average daily production is anticipated to land anywhere between 1.085 million barrels and 1.110 million barrels a day, versus 1.110 million barrels a day reported last week. CBOT corn futures closed trading for the day down 1%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1444 ET - Gold futures make small gains despite a rise in Treasury yields after the Treasury Department said it would buy back $6 billion in bonds this week, less than some in the market expected. The dollar weakened, however, which tends to support gold. An easing in Japanese yields and continued central bank buying--with China's central bank adding 20 tons in August--also helped support prices, while the market remains focused on U.S. inflation data later this week, Konstantinos Chrysikos of Kudo.com says in a note. Front month gold settles up 0.5% in New York at $4,416 a troy ounce. Silver gains 2.5% to $67.942 a troy ounce. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1333 ET - Fund traders are seen hedging their bets ahead of Friday's WASDE report. "It's all money flow--buy the breaks, sell the rally," says Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting. Wheat is seeing the brunt of the selling, but all three row crops are lower. Last week's Commitments of Traders report showed net long positions in wheat, corn, and soybeans--with corn and soybeans in particular having sizable net long positions. So traders have room to trim their holdings in the event that the USDA doesn't move its forecasts as much as anticipated by analysts. Most-active corn on the CBOT is down 0.7%, soybeans fall 0.4%, and wheat is off 2.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1233 ET - Renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran is dimming prospects for an agreement to settle the conflict, creating scope for sustained upside in crude, says Nikos Tzabouras of Tradu. But crude oil continues to find a way out of the Persian Gulf and the U.S. still prefers to pressure Tehran and its enablers through economic measures, he adds. "President Trump may also be incentivized to seek an off-ramp as the conflict increasingly clashes with his domestic agenda, with the midterms getting closer." WTI is up 3.5% at $96.25 a barrel and Brent gains 3.2% to $101.08.(anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1204 ET - Bitcoin briefly dipped but rebounded, after the Treasury said it would buy up to $6 billion of longer-term debt at its Thursday buyback operation. The announcement sent bond yields higher with the 2-year yield now at 4.85%. Markets initially responded by moving money out of riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin which had been in positive territory before the announcement. Bitcoin is rising again, up 0.2%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1150 ET - Gold futures are steady as bond yields rise after the Treasury says it will buy up to $6 billion of longer-term debt at its Thursday buyback operation. The precious metals market is also focusing on this week's inflation data--producer prices due Thursday and consumer prices on Friday. Gold's recent slippage came as high Treasury yields, firmer Fed rate-hike expectations and rising oil prices "collectively outweighed dollar softness," Kaynat Chainwala of Kotak Neo says in a note. Softer inflation readings would reduce the probability of a rate increase "and open the path toward the $4,500 resistance zone," while an above-estimate result along with high energy prices "would likely reinstate selling pressure and bring the $4,300 support zone into focus." Front month gold is up 0.2% at $4,401.20 a troy ounce. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)

1150 ET - Weather stress looks to take another chunk out of yield forecasts for U.S. corn and soybeans, according to analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. Analysts forecast that U.S. corn yields will be pegged around 178.1 bushels per acre by the USDA, down 2.6 bpa from the USDA's projection in August. Soybean yields are seen at 52.5 bpa, which is down slightly from 52.7 bpa. Many private firms are forecasting lower production and yields for corn and soybeans, with corn in particular feeling the stress from hot and dry weather that struck in July and August. In its Crop Progress report Tuesday, the USDA says that soil moisture has declined in the past week - with 45% of topsoil having adequate or surplus moisture. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com)

1029 ET - CME livestock futures are lower after jumping to start the shortened week. But yesterday's climb was not based on any specific news, says Ross Baldwin of AgMarket.net in a note -- which is potentially one reason that the momentum appears to have ground to a halt. Instead, says Baldwin, live cattle futures have already priced in a lot of negative news. "Markets have digested so much negative news recently that holding these recent lows was setting up for a sharp rally," says Baldwin. Most-active live cattle futures are down 0.5%, while lean hogs fall 1.6%.