DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 02/04 06:27

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 02/04 06:27 Early-Week Gains Gives Hope for Additional Buying Interest Moderate price support in all livestock trade Monday helped to break away from the market free fall from the last week. This is expected to create mixed early trade Tuesday, but underlying support is expected to build. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv $141.38 -1.36* Hogs: Steady Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 74.70 +0.27** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Cash markets will likely remain quiet early in the week with limited interest seen on Monday. Asking prices are still yet to be well defined, and packers may not show any significant activity until midweek or later. Last week's pressure in cash markets seemed to take the wind out of the sails following the underlying pressure in most commodity markets, but there seems to be a growing sense of optimism during early February that feedlot managers can bounce off last week's lows and support higher cash prices through the month. But continued support will be needed in futures trade and boxed beef values in order to help support any upward movement in cash values over the next couple of weeks. Futures trade is expected mixed to mostly higher in early trade. There continues to be a lot of uncertainty surrounding the long-term impact of coronavirus in China and how this will impact overall beef demand. But for now, virus news coverage has been bumped off of the front burner, potentially helping markets to get a more realistic assessment of short- and long-term demand changes over the coming weeks and months. Building on Monday's gains and avoiding January lows should spark limited bullish market support through the entire cattle complex. Tuesday slaughter runs are expected near 121,000 head.