DTN Before The Bell-Livestock

GENERAL COMMENTS

There is support in all livestock futures with moderate buyer activity developing across the complex. Additional trade may occur over the next couple of days ahead of the holidays.

Strong buyer support is expected to draw additional interest in the livestock market through the next couple of days. This is helping to add underlying support to most contracts although trade remains sluggish. Corn futures are lower in light trade. Stock market futures are higher. Dow Jones is 200 points higher while Nasdaq is up 58 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Open: Steady to 60 cents higher.

Strong buyer activity is moving back into nearby live cattle trade. The underlying support redeveloping in the market may bring additional support back to the complex. This may draw additional trade to both futures and cash trade. Cash cattle markets are quiet, but typical for a Monday morning with showlist distribution and inventory-taking following the higher cash cattle trade last week. This will likely delay interest and activity until later in the week, although both sides are expected to try to wrap things up before Friday. Open interest Thursday fell 1,280 positions (335,535). Spot December lost 1,773 positions (6,552) and February contracts fell 1,634 positions (127,904). DTN projected slaughter for Monday is 118,000 head.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Open: Steady to 80 cents Higher.

Follow-through support is moving into the feeder cattle complex. This is helping to spark additional longer-term activity following firming fundamental moves seen in the cash live cattle complex. This may bring additional commercial trade to the market over the near future. Cash lean index for 12/12 is listed at $153.64, down 0.35. Open interest Friday fell 315 positions (53,871).

LEAN HOGS:

Open: Steady to 50 cents higher.

Moderate to firm buyer support is developing across the lean hog futures complex early Monday morning. This support could help to draw additional interest to the entire market with increased buyer activity likely through the week. Most of the needed trade through the end of the year will likely develop over the next two or three days as traders prepare for the holidays. Cash bids are steady to $1 per cwt lower. Most bids are 50 cents lower. Open interest Friday lost 653 positions (239,882). Spot month December remained unchanged in positions (10,016) and February fell 498 positions (92,765). Cash lean index for 12/11 is $64.97, down 0.20. DTN projected slaughter for Monday is 465,000 head.

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

(BAS)

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