DTN Before The Bell-Livestock

Narrow Shifts Develop Monday

Rick Kment
By  Rick Kment , DTN Analyst
(DTN photo by Nick Scalise)
GENERAL COMMENTS

Limited activity is seen in all livestock markets with prices mixed in a narrow range. The overall lack of intensity through the complex continues to focus on the sluggish volume expected early in the week as traders adjust positions following the wide market shifts over the last couple of trading sessions. Corn markets are higher in light early trade. Stock markets are lower. Dow Jones is 41 points lower with Nasdaq down 9 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Open: Steady to 30 cents lower. Sluggish market activity is keeping traders quiet most of the morning with losses hovering from 10 to 20 cents lower in most contract months. Firm gains late last week is allowing for limited position taking due to light volume and expected sluggish trade direction through the week. Cash cattle markets are quiet following last week's trade steady to $2 per cwt higher. Show list distribution and inventory taking will be the main focus early in the week. Open interest Thursday added 3,477 positions (446,598). Spot month April contracts lost 2,178 positions (20,004) and June contracts added 8 positions (196,283). DTN projected slaughter for Friday is 114,000 head.

P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

FEEDER CATTLE:

Open: Mixed. Sluggish activity is seen early Monday morning with nearby trade holding narrow losses of 5 to 20 cents per cwt. Limited gains have trickled into deferred contracts, allowing traders very little direction Monday morning. The tone of the market is expected to remain generally stable, allowing for increased overall focus on late month trade volume and potential positioning ahead of the long weekend. Futures trade will remain closed Friday in observance of Good Friday. This typically focuses on a generally quiet week, but light volume could spark increased volatility. Cash index for 4/10 is $143.35 down $0.28. Open interest Friday added 1,122 positions (53,234).

LEAN HOGS:

Open: Steady to 50 cents higher. Limited support is slowly moving into the lean hog complex as steady interest is slowly developing. Traders seem to be looking past the volatility in the market that followed aggressive sales to China. The focus this week will be based on any potential follow-through support through the complex and increased activity that may develop ahead of the Easter weekend. Overall trade typically remains sluggish during Easter week, but the market shifts seen over the last couple of weeks could create some additional volatility in all trade. With April contracts now expired, June futures are essentially front-month contracts based on extremely light open interest in the May contracts. Cash hog trade is called 50 cents lower to $1 higher. Most bids are steady. Open interest added 3,142 positions (297,146). April fell 679 positions (11,181) and June added 973 positions (82,030). Cash lean index for 4/10 is $79.36 up $0.07. DTN projected slaughter for Monday is 442,000 head.

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

(BAS)

P[L2] D[728x90] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[R1] D[300x250] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
P[R2] D[300x250] M[320x50] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
DIM[1x3] LBL[] SEL[] IDX[] TMPL[standalone] T[]
P[R3] D[300x250] M[0x0] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]

Rick Kment