DTN Closing Livestock Comments

GENERAL COMMENTS

Cattle buyers and sellers stayed on the sidelines through the day. We may not see significant business interest from either side until the second half of the week. A few showlists in the South were priced in a broad range, stretching from $142 to 145. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $2.22 higher ($52.00-61.00, weighted average $58.47). Giving back roughly half of Monday's rally, corn futures closed nearly a nickel lower. The stock market closed higher with the Dow up 36 points and the Nasdaq better by 3.

LIVE CATTLE

Spot June led Tuesday's bullish charge right from the get-go, spending a good deal of the session locked up the 300-point limit. The new lead contract was inspired by the red-hot boxed beef trade and suggestions that cash premiums still had some staying power. For at least half the session, deferred contracts did a decent job keeping pace with June. But profit-taking and long liquidation surfaced late, trimming all but the lead issue. When the smoke cleared, prices settled mixed, up 292 (spot June) to off 30. Beef cut-outs: explosively higher, up $3.18 (choice, $229.45) to $3.83 (select, $213.28) with moderate to good demand and light offerings (52 loads of choice cuts, 18 loads of select cuts, 12 loads of trimmings, 28 loads of coarse grinds).

WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady to $2 higher. Preliminary bids could start to surface here and there at midweek, but significant trade volume will probably be delayed until Thursday or Friday.

FEEDER CATTLE

Feeder futures reversed from Monday's sell-off, closing mostly 102 to 185 points higher with the help of short-covering and commercial buying. Yet feeder progress like that in the live trade must be qualified. Clearly, things could have been better had the camera been snapped earlier. Many contracts traded 450 points higher at different times through the day. CME cash feeder index: 05/01: 142.76, up 1.04.

LEAN HOGS

Lean hog contracts closed on a mixed basis, up 87 to off 30. Nearby issues were well supported by bull-spreading interest, technical buying, and signs of more aggressive packer spending in the country. The carcass value closed moderately higher, supported by better demand for loins, ribs, and hams. Pork cut-out: $75.89, up .48. CME cash lean index for 04/28: 59.88, up .24 (DTN Projected lean index for 05/01: 60.29, up .41).

WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL

Steady to $1 higher. Look for hog buyers to pursue live inventory at midweek with steady to $1 higher bids.

For more from John, see www.feelofthemarket.com

(CZ)

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