DTN Closing Livestock Comments

GENERAL COMMENTS: From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: June LC, down $1.55; Aug. LC, up $0.22; Aug FC, up $4.13; Sep. FC, up $3.28; June LH, down $3.07; July LH, down $2.57. Cash cattle trade wrapped up the week with lower prices. Cash in the South ranged from $112 to $114, down $2.00 to $3.00 from last week. Dressed sales down $2.00 to $3.00, ranging from $183.00 to $184.00. According to the Dairy Direct Hogs afternoon report, the weighted average price was $0.05 higher with a base price range of $67-$77. Corn futures fell in light of better weather and uneasiness of progress with Mexico before Monday. July corn lost 4 3/4 cents. The Dow gained 263 points to end at 25,983 and the NASDAQ was up 126 points at 7,742.

LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures succumbed to selling pressure after holding minimal losses for much of the day. With the exception of June, later contracts suffered triple-digit losses. The minor uptrend that had developed this week seems to have been negated with the close today. Beef cut-outs were mixed: choice, up $0.06 per cwt at $222.31 and select, down $0.24 per cwt at $206.92. There were 30 loads of choice cuts, 17 loads of select cuts, 13 loads of trimmings, and 20 loads of ground beef.

MONDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1 lower. The fact that buyers were able to procure cattle this week at lower prices will bring buyers back in, hoping for more next week. Futures losses Friday will also result in lower bids.

FEEDER CATTLE: Futures did not spend much time in the black as selling pressure dominated much of the day. Weakness of cash cattle this week and the inability to extend futures gains Friday moved traders to the sidelines before the weekend. The Commitments of Traders report shows fund traders net short this market nearly 3-1.

LEAN HOGS: Futures tried to limit losses earlier, but selling took over with July and August contracts closing limit down. This will raise the daily trading limit to $4.50 on Monday. It likely will not be needed, as the action Friday was a run for the door in case something unexpected takes place with the U.S.-Mexico trade negotiations. New lows for this move were established in an oversold market. Pork cut-out values gained $1.12 per cwt, moving to $84.37 per cwt. CME cash lean hog index for 6/5 was $80.56 down $0.11. The projected index for 6/6 is $80.30, down $0.26.

MONDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to $1.00 lower. The pressure on futures at the close of the week will keep packers unwilling to buy aggressively. Weekend political events may change that.

Robin Schmahl can be reached at rschmahl@agdairy.com

(AG)

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