DTN Midday Livestock Comments 09/15 11:47

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 09/15 11:47 Cattle Futures Turn Sharply Lower Tuesday Aggressive pressure is seen in the live cattle and feeder cattle futures Tuesday. There is expected to be some additional softness developing through the entire market. Lean hog futures are sharply higher in light trade. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Livestock markets have taken a significant shift through the morning as cattle markets quickly lost grip of early morning buyer support, now trading sharply lower. Lean hog futures have sparked an impressive rally, with traders starting to home in on the $70 per cwt price level given the fact that fundamentals appear to be holding through the middle of September. Corn prices are lower in light trade. December corn futures are 3 cents per bushel lower. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 177 points higher while Nasdaq is up 40 points. LIVE CATTLE: Firm support seen early Tuesday has steadily eroded as markets have continued to focus on the lack of support in beef values and concern that the current level of cattle available to go to market may and lackluster consumer buying activity could push prices even lower through the end of the trading session. Nearby contracts are hovering in a tight range from 70 to 90 cents per cwt lower, but are still holding above short term support levels of $140.47 per cwt. Cash cattle markets remain inactive and quiet Tuesday morning with bids may not develop until midweek. Asking prices are still not well defined, but expected to be around $143 to $144 in the South and $223 and higher in the North. It may be late in the week before active trade develops. Beef cut-outs at midday are lower, $0.22 lower (select) and down $0.16 per cwt (choice) with active movement of 105 total loads reported (61 loads of choice cuts, 15 loads of select cuts, 11 loads of trimmings, 17 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder cattle started on a positive note, with moderate buyer support stepping into the market, as many traders focused on covering short positions. The lack of buyer interest in the complex quickly led to aggressive triple-digit losses through the complex. At midday all contracts are holding losses of $2 per cwt or greater with additional pressure possible through the rest of the session. LEAN HOGS: Aggressive gains continue to hold through nearby lean hog futures even though buyers have backed away from session highs. October futures are holding $2 per cwt gains, helping to push prices near $69 per cwt. The focus on longer-term support slowly developing in cash hog values and pork prices could help to spark additional interest. This could create additional traction through the rest of the complex. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.64 per cwt to $65.85 per cwt with the range from $59.00 to $67.50 per cwt on 4,616 head reported sold. Cash prices are unreported due to confidentiality on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The National Pork Plant Report reported 237 loads selling with prices slipping $0.56 per cwt. Lean hog index for 9/10 is at $72.70 down 0.38, with a projected two-day index of $71.94, down 0.76. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (BAS) Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.