DTN Before The Bell-Livestock

GENERAL COMMENTS

Livestock futures have posted light to moderate market shifts with mixed trade seen through most contract months. The overall lackluster trade interest seen through the complex could add uncertainty through the entire market. Corn markets are higher in light early trade. Stock markets are lower, Dow Jones is 135 points lower while Nasdaq is down 39 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Open: Mixed. Extremely light gains seen through the nearby contracts is helping to draw additional buyer support back into the complex. This may add some increased overall support through late morning, but for now, traders remain extremely cautious. Gains in nearby contracts are steady to 30 cents higher, while similar losses are seen in deferred futures. Cash cattle markets remain quiet Thursday morning with bids undeveloped at this point. Packer interest is expected to improve through the day, but trade may easily be pushed off until Friday. Open interest Wednesday gained 3,220 positions (338,150). Spot month December contracts lost 5,694 positions (67,921) and February contracts added 5,201 positions (109,949). DTN projected slaughter for Thursday is 119,000 head.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Open: Steady to 20 cents higher. Limited support is slowly trickling into the feeder cattle complex with increased support coming from the ability to cover midweek losses. The overall lack of market direction over the last couple of days is leaving many traders on the sidelines as they look for additional direction from outside markets. The fractional shifts in corn trade Wednesday has left feeder cattle traders uncertain of production shifts in the near future. This may cause many to remain comfortable with narrow market moves through the rest of the week. Cash index for 11/13 is listed at $149.89, down 0.70. Open interest Wednesday fell 116 positions (49,127).

LEAN HOGS:

Open: Mixed. Firm gains have quickly developed through the lean hog complex with gains of 60 to 90 cents per cwt in nearby trade. Pressure is holding in deferred contracts as the overall direction of the market has not seen uniform market direction at this point. There is likely to be some additional uncertainty through the complex with increased overall movement expected through the rest of the morning Thursday. Cash hog trade Thursday is expected steady to $1 lower. Most bids are seen $1 per cwt lower. Open interest fell 3,456 positions (237,066). Spot month December slipped 3,981 positions (55,802) and February added 6,187 positions (79,445). Cash lean index for 11/13 is $60.47 down 0.73. DTN projected slaughter for Thursday is at 477,000 head. Saturday runs are expected to be seen at 278,000 head.

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

(BAS)

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