| |
DTN Midday Livestock Comments 09/18 11:36
Live Cattle and Lean Hogs Sport Higher Prices into Wednesday's Noon Hour
Still no cash cattle trade has developed, but packer interest could improve
later this afternoon.
ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Both the live cattle and lean hog contracts are trading mostly higher into
Wednesday's noon hour, but the feeder cattle market isn't as sold as its market
is currently trading mixed. Still no cash cattle trade has developed, but
packer interest should improve later this afternoon. December corn is up 1 3/4
cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $2.30. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average is down 47.57 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading mostly higher into Wednesday's noon hour
as the market anticipates interest rates to be lowered this afternoon and
believes that there's a strong chance that the cash cattle market could trade
at least steady again this week. October live cattle are down slightly, but
besides that contract, the entire rest of the marketplace is trading higher. It
is also worth noting that the spot December contract is currently trading above
its 40-day moving average, which has been a resistance point at which the
market has struggled to hurdle over. October live cattle are down $0.22 at
$178.57, December live cattle are up $0.15 at $180.00 and February live cattle
are up $0.05 at $181.05. The cash cattle market is still quiet with no bids
having developed yet. Asking prices are noted in the South at $184 to $185 but
have not yet been established in the North.
Boxed beef prices are lower: Choice down $0.36 ($303.55) and select down
$0.61 ($291.61) with a movement of 107 loads (68.13 loads of choice, 28.85
loads of select, zero loads of trim and 9.59 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is trading mixed as the market's nearby contracts
seem to be holding their breath -- waiting to see how just how much interest
rates are decreased by and waiting to see if the spot December live cattle
contract can indeed close above its 40-day moving average. October feeders are
down $0.82 at $239.92, November feeders are down $0.30 at $238.00 and January
feeders are steady at $233.02. It's likely that the market will merely chop
sideways through the afternoon as it waits to see what support (or lack
thereof) stems from the live cattle market's trade today.
LEAN HOGS:
Between seeing ample support from traders and the morning's positive note of
stronger pork cutout values, the lean hog complex is trading higher into
Wednesday's noon hour with ease. October lean hogs are up $0.25 at $82.07,
December lean hogs are up $0.05 at $73.75 and February lean hogs are up $0.07
at $76.87. I'm somewhat surprised to see that the morning's cash hog market has
only traded 375 head as I thought that packers would need to be at least
aggressive one more day this week to avoid being short bought. So, monitoring
the afternoon's cash report will be important this afternoon.
The projected lean hog index for 9/17/2024 is steady at $84.22, and the
actual index for 9/16/2024 is down $0.16 at $84.22. Hog prices are unavailable
on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report due to confidentiality. However, we can
see that only 375 head have traded, and that the market's five-day rolling
average now sits at $76.55. Pork cutouts total 181.85 loads with 162.44 loads
of pork cuts and 19.41 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.08, $96.08.
ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com
(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.
No other Daily email offers as much useful Ag information as DTN Snapshot – Sign up Free today!
|
|
