DTN Closing Livestock Comments

Livestock Futures Close Mixed at Midweek

(DTN file photo)

GENERAL COMMENTS:

Feedlot bids at midweek were no more than token with a few scattered attempts at $175-$176 dressed in the North and $109 live in the South. Asking prices were poorly defined. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.18 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($46-$52.44, weighted average $52.61). The corn market settled fractionally mixed in light volume. Equities continued to struggle Wednesday with the Dow off 205 points and the Nasdaq down by 64.

LIVE CATTLE:

Live issues closed mostly lower, off 5 to 77 cents with spot December catching the most selling interest. Beef cut-outs closed lower with the choice off $0.92 ($213.16) and select off $1.80 ($197.18). Box demand was called light on moderate offerings.

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THURSDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady-$1 lower. Cattle-buying interest could start to improve Thursday, but don't be surprised if significant volume gets delayed until sometime Friday.

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder market closed from unchanged in the nearbys to 27 to 32 cents lower in deferreds. CME cash feeder index: 11/13: $149.38, off $0.51.

LEAN HOGS:

Lean futures finished narrowly mixed, up 17 to off 30 cents. To be sure, a definite trend was tough to find here. On the other hand, wholesale pork bears were as focused as ever. Carcass value crashed another $1.67, checked by all primals except the butt. The cut-out totaled $69.02, off $1.67. CME cash lean index for 11/12: $61.20, off $0.67. (DTN Projected lean index for 11/13: $60.47, off $0.73).

THURSDAY'S CASH HOG CALL:

Steady-$1 lower. Expect hog buyers to remain on the defensive in the morning.

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

(CZ)

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