DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/28 16:19
28 Dec 2018
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/28 16:19 Anticipating Late-Week Cash Strength, December Live Futures Close Sharply Higher The cattle complex closed the last full week of 2018 mostly higher in the live trade and mixed in the feeder market. On the other hand, lean hog issues settled mostly lower linked to long liquidation, thin volume and a general lack of buying interest. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Northern cattle buying interest was light to moderate Friday afternoon, with some bids hiked as much as $192-$195, but still generally below asking prices of $195 plus. The spread between bids and asking prices remains even wider in the South (i.e., $122 bid versus $123-$125 asked). In short, we're still waiting for even minimal trade volume to develop. Such a vigil could take us into late afternoon or early evening. The national hog carcass base closed $0.26 higher ($41-$45.50, weighted average, $45.17). March corn closed up a penny, narrowing this week's loss to 3 cents through the holiday period of lackluster trading. The stock market closed mixed with the Dow off 76 points and the Nasdaq up 5.