DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 01/16 06:39

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 01/16 06:39 Documents Are Signed With Limited Market News Following the signing of the phase-one trade agreement, little if any new market information is available. Commodity-specific information has been kept confidential in order to not disrupt markets, but this was known before the signing of the agreement. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv $142.38 -0.22* Hogs: Steady Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 79.60 +0.36** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: It appears that cash cattle trade will be pushed off toward the end of the week once again with bids still hard to pin down early Thursday morning. Continued asking prices remain aggressive at $126 to $126 per cwt live in the South and $205 and higher dressed in the North. The aggressive nature of asking prices and the expectation that packers will continue to remain focused on filling plant capacity the next few weeks will point to managers, pointing to higher money by the end of the week. Tight cattle supplies are expected through most of the first quarter so packers will have to pay higher prices at some point, but packers will likely acquire as much beef as possible early in the year in case the tightness continues through the spring. Futures trade is expected mixed as the moderate-to-firm losses midweek may spark some underlying softness through the end of the week. Even if prices shift lower, it is expected that markets will remain rangebound near the top end of trading levels over the last month. Thursday slaughter runs are expected near 121,000 head.