DTN Midday Livestock Comments 04/02 11:47

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 04/02 11:47 Mixed Tones Encompass Livestock Complex The cattle complex will likely trade higher Tuesday, but with the hesitancy toward the recent emergence of avian influenza, traders are still cautious. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is trading mixed as the lean hog complex is up against resistance and the cattle complex remains skeptical of trading too much higher amid the avian influenza situation. No cash cattle trade has developed at this point. May corn is down 7 1/2 cents per bushel and May soybean meals is down $3.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 467.40 points. LIVE CATTLE: Still completely lost for direction and desperately needing support, the live cattle complex has traded on both sides of steady this morning but is currently trading mostly lower into Tuesday's noon hour. The market's main focus continues to be the avian influenza and cattle and unfortunately, nothing mind-settling has been released as disease experts need time to test the strain. April live cattle are up $0.72 at $180.80, June live cattle are down $0.17 at $175.15 and August live cattle are down $0.10 at $172. No action has developed sso far in the cash cattle market and trade will likely be delayed until after Wednesday. Packers are likely going to be able to push the market lower again this week as the heaviness seen in the future's complex weighs on feedlot manger's minds. Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.51 ($305.23) and select down $1.77 ($300.02) with a movement of 81 loads (59.68 loads of choice, 8.67 loads of select, 3.49 loads of trim and 9.61 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Even though the live cattle complex is trading lower, feeder cattle contracts are stepping out and trading mildly higher into Tuesday afternoon. The market was red hot in the countryside Monday afternoon as sales saw incredible interest from buyers, which could be part of why contracts are comfortably trading higher. So long as corn prices don't trade higher and demand remains strong in the countryside this afternoon, Wednesday's market may be able to trade higher as well. April feeders are up $0.37 at $240.80, May feeders are up $0.02 at $242.70 and August feeders are up $1.02 at $252.67. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is trading mixed as the market sees continued support of higher pork cutout values, but this week's cash market has been disappointing. April lean hogs are down $0.17 at $86.77, June lean hogs are up $0.10 at $103.60 and July lean hogs are down $0.15 at $105.37. The market's mixed trade throughout the futures complex isn't surprising as traders are up against resistance and are at the point that the market will either take out long-term resistance thresholds or again trade lower to those pressures. The projected lean hog index is not available currently. Hog prices are unavailable in the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report due to confidentiality. However, we can see that only 389 head have traded and the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $80.97. Pork cutouts total 138.74 loads with 128.51 loads of pork cuts and 10.23 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.94, $97.55. ShayLe Stewart can be reached at shayle.stewart@dtn.com. (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.