DTN Midday Livestock Comments 04/12 11:46

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 04/12 11:46 Livestock Contracts Meet Monday With Indecisiveness It's been a wishy-washy Monday as traders want to see strong fundamental support before they move contracts any higher. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: It's been a back-and-forth day already for livestock futures as traders are waiting to see how the fundamentals pan out before rallying the contracts any higher. The markets still stand a strong chance at trading higher, especially if feedlots wait until later in the week to market their cattle. This week's cash cattle market is expected to be higher again. May corn is down 6 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $0.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 38.10 points and NASDAQ is down 43.18 points. LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures are battling the same indecisive pressure the rest of the livestock contracts are. If the market can get its bumps worked out early this week there's a strong likelihood we will be able to trade higher later in the week when cash cattle trade gets more aggressive and if boxed beef prices keep trading higher, which is highly anticipated. April live cattle are down $0.25 at $123.17, June live cattle are down $0.10 at $122.50 and August live cattle are down $0.17 at $122.22. Looking at the week ahead, the market stands a phenomenal chance of seeing robust cash cattle trade again this week. New showlists appear to be mixed, somewhat higher in Kansas, higher in Texas, but somewhat lower in Nebraska. As evidenced again last week, the market offered the strongest cash cattle prices late in the week, so one may consider pushing past Wednesday's trade and waiting for Thursday or Friday before getting serious about selling pens of cattle as supplies favor feedlot positions. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 108,513 head. Of that 70% (75,474 head) were committed for delivery in the next two upcoming weeks, while the remaining 30% (33,039 head) are scheduled for delivery in the following 15 to 30 days. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.34 ($270.83) and select up $1.20 ($265.27) with a movement of 53 loads (31.79 loads of choice, 4.15 loads of select, 14.39 loads of trim and 2.38 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder cattle futures traded all across the board Monday morning as the complex fights itself and the signals its being given from the other markets as to where it should trade. The corn market is giving the feeder cattle contracts a break as the corn contracts trade slightly lower. But without like-minded, rallying support from the live cattle contracts the feeder cattle contracts feel uneasy about the day. April feeders are down $0.32 at $144.42, May feeders are up $0.27 at $149.90 and August feeders are up $0.45 at $160.40. LEAN HOGS: Lean hog futures have traded much like both the live and feeder cattle contracts -- for a little while the complex will feel confident and trade higher; but then in a matter of minutes the contracts are back to trading lower as traders are uncertain. June lean hogs are down $1.57 at $107.37, July lean hogs are down $1.27 at $105.52 and August lean hogs are down $0.77 at $101.65. Looking at the market's fundamental support, I'm glad to see packers supporting the morning cash hog market, but it will be important to watch and see how many hogs trade by this afternoon's close as 2,953 head is a slim movement. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 4/9/2021 is up $0.52 at $101.89 and the actual index for 4/8/2021 is up $0.43 at $101.37. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.92 with a weighted average of $99.57, ranging from $98.62 to $102.50 on 2,953 head and a five-day rolling average of $98.67. Pork cutouts total 123.76 loads with 111.89 loads of pork cuts and 11.87 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $3.83, $109.34. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2021 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.