DTN Before The Bell-Livestock

GENERAL COMMENTS

Moderate to strong gains are seen in all livestock trade with futures focusing on the ability to bring even more support through the rest of the session. Strong losses seen Tuesday in feeder cattle trade have allowed for increased market support in all contracts. Corn prices are lower in light trade. Stock markets are mixed, Dow Jones is 40 points lower while Nasdaq is up 11 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Open: 40 to 90 cents higher. Strong market support is seen in live cattle trade midweek with early gains reaching nearly $1 per cwt in front-month June futures. This is likely to help draw some additional activity back into the market through the next couple hours of trade. Cash cattle activity remains sluggish with traders looking for more bids to develop through the day. A few asking prices ae seen at $125 to $126 in the South, but additional interest may not be seen until later in the week. Open interest Tuesday added 2,683 positions (351,678). Spot month April contracts lost 12 positions (zero) and June contracts fell 3,225 positions (147,366). DTN projected slaughter for Wednesday is 118,000 head.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Open: 50 cents to $1 higher. Initial trade in the feeder cattle futures have quickly reacted to sharp triple digit losses that developed Tuesday. This may add some additional uncertainty to the complex with buyers focusing on additional market moves through the rest of the complex. Traders may step back into the market with the most aggressive support seen in August trade. Cash index for 4/30 is listed at $139.49 up 1.28. Open interest Tuesday fell 360 positions (47,932).

LEAN HOGS:

Open: Steady to 50 cents higher. Light to moderate support is support is seen in the complex with nearby contracts holding gains of 50 cents per cwt during early trade. This could help to spark some additional early-month market support through the entire hog complex. Cash hog trade early Wednesday is seen steady to $1 per cwt higher. Most bids are evenly scattered through this range. Open interest Tuesday lost 3,083 positions (255,240). Spot month May fell 65 positions (3,241) and June fell 2,004 positions (96,950). Cash lean index for 4/25 is $61.23, up 0.79. DTN projected slaughter for Wednesday is expected to be 465,000 head. Saturday runs are expected to be seen at 42,000 head.

Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com

(SK)

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