DTN Midday Livestock Comments          09/16 11:38

   Hogs and Feeder Cattle Trade Higher, While Live Cattle Complex Remains 
Reluctant

   Heading into Monday's afternoon cattle fans are hopeful that traders will 
turn the live cattle market higher as midday boxed beef prices are supportive.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   Thus far both the lean hog and feeder cattle contacts have found modest 
support throughout the morning which has helped the contracts maintain a higher 
position through the morning's trade. Meanwhile, the live cattle contracts are 
slow to turn to higher trade as traders desperately yearn to see substantial 
fundamental support before they do so. December corn is down 3 1/4 cents per 
bushel and December soybean meal is down $0.90. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average is up 117.14 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is the last in the livestock marketplace to jump on 
board with the notion that higher trade is the aim for Monday. One would think 
that traders would find it encouraging that packers weren't able to get many 
cattle bought last week for the deferred delivery option, and that already this 
morning that midday boxed beef prices are higher. But nevertheless, the live 
cattle contracts are dragging their feet as the complex is entering Monday's 
noon hour lower. October live cattle are down $0.42 at $177.22, December live 
cattle are down $0.20 at $178.30 and February live cattle are down $0.30 at 
$179.37. Please note that on Friday the month's Cattle on Feed data will be 
released.

   Last week Southern live cattle traded at mostly $181 which is mostly steady 
with the previous week's weighted average, and Northern dressed cattle traded 
at mostly $288 which is also steady with the previous week's weighted average. 
Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 61,496 head. Of that 83% 
(51,181 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 17% 
(10,315 head) were committed to the deferred delivery.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.06 ($304.97) and select up $1.63 
($295.80) with a movement of 83 loads (52.08 loads of choice, 7.65 loads of 
select, 2.68 loads of trim and 20.30 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   Even with the live cattle contracts trading lower into Monday's noon hour, 
the feeder cattle contracts are maintaining a modest rally into the afternoon. 
The spot October contract is hesitant to take on the market's resistance at its 
40-day moving average, which could cause the market to simply maintain a 
slightly higher tone through the day's end but to ultimately chop sideways 
until traders determine if there's enough support in the market to take on the 
threshold. October feeders are up $0.17 at $239.30, November feeders are up 
$0.30 at $235.50 and January feeders are up $0.10 at $230.70.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex has traded back and forth throughout the morning and as 
the day's noon hour nears, traders are seeming to comfortably allow the nearby 
contracts to trade higher. Thankfully the spot October contract is far from its 
resistance, so if trader interest does grow stronger, the market shouldn't have 
any issue closing higher as there's ample room technically for the contracts to 
do so. Plus, it's also helpful that morning pork cutout values are higher as 
last week's demand wasn't as strong as traders nor packers had hoped for. 
October lean hogs are up $0.90 at $79.32, December lean hogs are up $0.47 at 
$71.77 and February lean hogs are up $0.17 at $75.15.

   The projected lean hog index for 9/13/2024 is down $0.49 at $84.38, and the 
actual index for 9/12/2024 is down $0.48 at $84.87. Hog prices are lower on the 
Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.94 with a weighted average price of 
$75.00 on 358 head and a five-day rolling average of $77.21. Pork cutouts total 
208.20 loads with 188.10 loads of pork cuts and 20.10 loads of trim. Pork 
cutout value: up $1.09, $94.99.

   ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com

    

    




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