DTN Closing Livestock Comment 05/03 16:15
3 May 2019
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 05/03 16:15 Hog Prices Frozen by Uncertainty Live and feeder cattle futures continued plummeting through the end of this week, driven by speculative traders' need to get out of massive net-long positions in a downward-trending market. Lean hog contracts, meanwhile, settled on a mixed basis with June ending Friday's session exactly on par with its previous close. By Elaine Kub DTN Contributing Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: This week's cash cattle trade was mostly done by Thursday, with prices falling $3 to $5 per cwt from last week's levels. Live business took place at $123 to $124, while dressed trade moved to $198 to $200 per cwt. According to the closing report, the national hog carcass base is $0.06 lower ($72-$83.75, weighted average $78.94). Corn futures settled fractionally higher Friday and 7 cents higher through the week of rain delays during prime planting season. The stock market closed modestly higher but didn't hit fresh highs, up 28.12 points in the S&P 500 Index (2,945.64).