DTN Closing Livestock Comments

Cattle Futures Return From Holiday With Mixed Results

(DTN file photo)

GENERAL COMMENTS: The cash cattle market may have been gaveled back from the Christmas break Wednesday, but you couldn't prove it in terms of hard business. Both bids and asking prices were poorly defined. The national hog carcass base closed $0.44 higher ($40-$45). March corn closed down 4 1/2 cents, likely encountering more noncommercial liquidation as prices make new lows in December. After collapsing on Christmas Eve, equities made a bullish about-face with the Dow scoring the biggest single-day gain ever. The Dow closed 1,086 points higher and the Nasdaq landed 361 in the green.

LIVE CATTLE: Live issues closed mixed with settlements ranging from 47 cents higher to 17 cents lower. Beef cut-outs closed higher with the choice box up $1.64 ($215.69) and its select counterpart positive by $0.10 ($207.60). Wholesale supply and demand was described as "light to moderate."

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THURSDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1 higher. Cash potential could start to take shape on Thursday. Asking prices will probably be floated around $121 plus in the South and $192 plus dressed in the North. Yet significant trade volume may not surface until late Friday.

FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder futures closed moderately higher, up 15 to 72 cents. Breaking corn prices obviously helped to stimulate buying interest. CME cash feeder Index for 12/25: $147.71, up $0.05.

LEAN HOGS. Lean hog futures settled on a mixed basis, up 60 cents to down 20 cents. The first half of the board clearly outperformed deferred issues. The pork carcass value closed moderately lower, pressured by softer demand for all primals except the rib and ham. Early buying looked promising, but there wasn't much follow-through past midsession. The pork cut-out for 12/26 totaled $70.63, off $0.69. (DTN Projected lean index for CME cash lean index for 12/21: $53.32, down $0.55) CME cash lean index for 12/20: $53.87, off $0.78.

THURSDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to $1 lower. Expect hog buyers to resume business in the morning with bids steady to $1 lower.

John Harrington can be reached at harringtonsfotm@gmail.com

Follow him on Twitter @feelofthemarket

(CZ)

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