DTN Closing Livestock Comments

GENERAL COMMENTS:

Late-day buyer support moved back into the lean hog complex despite sharp, triple-digit losses through the morning. The initial pressure in hog trade seemed to take the market by surprise following gains Thursday and recent news of pork sold to China in the last export sales report. Cattle markets firmed in late-week trade, allowing for buyer interest to redevelop. Corn futures are higher in light trade. May futures added 1 cent per bushel. Dow Jones Index is 269 points higher with Nasdaq up 36 points.

For the week ended 4/12/19: From Friday to Friday livestock futures scored the following changes: Apr LC up $0.50 Jun LC up $1.10; Apr FC off $0.72 May FC up $0.28; Apr LH up $0.27 May LH off $1.40.

CASH MARKETS: Cash cattle trade is just starting to develop in the North with a few live deals at $127 to $128 per cwt. Dressed trade has yet to develop, but currently prices are $1 to $2 per cwt higher than last week. Additional trade will be seen over the next few hours. Trade in the South appears to be done for the week with bids undeveloped in these areas after the Wednesday trade. National Daily Direct afternoon hog report is $1.81 higher with a weighted average of $76.37 per cwt. Full range of $67.00 to $78.50 per cwt on 7,540 head sold.

LIVE CATTLE: End-of-week buying pushed live cattle futures higher in limited volume (up $0.45 to $1.02). Even though markets remained sluggish through most of Friday's session, late-day and late-week buyer support quickly resurfaced. This pushed June futures $1.02 per cwt higher to $121.45 as traders continue to add increased underlying support through the entire complex. Limited, long-term direction has been seen during early April as traders continue to be locked in a wide, sideways trading range that may continue through most of the spring. Steady to higher cash cattle trade is helping to draw underlying support through the entire complex. Beef cut-outs: higher, $1.07 higher (select, $221.02) and up $0.01 (choice, $228.84) with moderate demand and offerings, 120 loads (73 loads of choice cuts, 17 loads of select cuts, 9 load of trimmings, 21 loads of coarse grinds).

MONDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. Following trade in the North developing late Friday with higher prices than the previous week; activity Monday will revert to inventory taking and showlist distribution.

FEEDER CATTLE: Light support trickled into a slow-moving cattle market Friday with late-day adjustments developing (futures $0.35 lower to $1.05 higher). Light buyer interest steadily moved into most nearby contracts with August futures leading the complex higher with a late-day $1 per cwt rally. Trade through most of the session was limited to light gains, as traders continue to focus on limited overall activity through the entire cattle market and sluggish fundamental moves during early April. CME cash feeder index for 4/11 is $142.78 down $0.57.

LEAN HOGS: Late-day buying pushed prices higher following early losses (futures $0.07 to $1.20 higher). Aggressive triple-digit losses quickly developed early Friday morning. This added even more uncertainty following the impressive sale of pork to China in Thursday's export sales report. But the inability to hang onto support is creating even more uncertainty through the entire complex. Late-day position-squaring stepped into the market with traders covering morning short positions. The buyer support helped to bring limited stability back to the market before the weekend break. Pork cutout prices continued to move higher following firming futures support and additional product movement. Pork cutout values added $1.28 per cwt, moving to $85.71 per cwt on 303 loads. CME cash lean index for 4/10 is $79.36, up $0.07. DTN Projected lean index for 4/11 $79.34, down $0.02.

MONDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to $1 lower. Early bids next week are expected to try to test the lower limits of the market with most bids likely to be steady, although bids in the full range from steady to $1 lower are likely. Monday slaughter is expected at 476,000 head.

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

(CZ)

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