News & Resources

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/07 12:09

7 Jan 2020
DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/07 12:09 Cattle Contracts Sink Back, Lean Hogs Press Forward Cattle contracts slip back through some of Monday's gains while lean hog contracts gingerly take the day and move higher. By ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst General Comments Tuesdays are typically the lean hogs' markets day to shine and cattle contracts are allowing for the trend to remain usual. Cattle contracts are reluctant to trade higher mostly lacking support as the cash market has yet to trade and the market needs some time to rationalize Monday's move. March corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is down $2.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 100.01 points and NASDAQ is up 10.56 points. LIVE CATTLE Live cattle contracts are yet to break above Monday's position and rather instead trade at least $1.00 lower, and even lower than that in some cases. February live cattle contracts are down $1.25 at $126.02, April live cattle are down $1.17 at $126.92 and June live cattle are down $0.90 at $118.55. Knowing that it's too early in the week for cash cattle to trade, feeders lie their initial asking prices of $127 in the South and $203 in the North on the table. Until cash cattle trade, or boxed beef prices pick up, the market is left in logical position to trade lower. Now given time, the live cattle market is expected to pick up mid/late-week steam as cash cattle are anticipated to trade higher yet again; but until then, the future market idles backward and waits for the cash market to initiate direction. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.08 ($209.57) and select is up $0.07 ($206.87) with a movement of 87 loads (61.99 loads of choice, 10.98 loads of select, 7.55 loads of trim and 6.06 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE Feeder cattle markets maybe regressing back through some of Monday's progress, but the heart of Tuesday's trade still lies in the upper half of Monday's rally. January feeders are down $1.60 at $145.82, March feeders are down $1.60 at $144.75 and April feeders are down $1.27 at $147.45. Upon breaking into the new week full of optimism and leading prices near limit highs, it's not surprising to see the following day lower and back-tracking in nature. But knowing that sale barns are going to have hot sales this week leads one to believe that the end of the week may allow the market to level out as the board picks a steady, but potentially higher pace, which could be supported by strong cash cattle prices and sale barn reports. LEAN HOGS The lean hog market opens to a fruitful Tuesday as contracts trade modestly higher with the announcement that china is digging deeper into their coolers to supply froze pork to their nation, and the obvious waiting for the unveiling of next week's phase one trade agreement. February lean hogs are up $0.55 at $69.17, April lean hogs are up $0.92 at $75.87 and May lean hogs are up $0.67 at $82.12. Overall the market is anxious for the opportunity to trade higher and is aligning for the time. The projected lean hog index for 1/6/20 is down $0.03 at $59.16, and the actual for 1/3/20 is up $0.57 at $59.19. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.11 with a weighted average of $50.08, ranging from $45.00 to $50.50 on 5,931 head sold and five-day rolling average of $50.28. Pork cutouts total 263.48 loads with 240.88 loads of pork cuts and 22.60 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.65 at $74.11. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (CZ) Copyright 2020 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.