DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/04 12:11

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/04 12:11 Cattle Futures Shifting Lower Friday Morning Moderate follow-through pressure is developing through the cattle futures Friday. The early mixed trade seen across the complex eroded quickly as previous market pressure created additional market weakness, and additional beef market softness pulled buyers back away from the market. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Live cattle trade is holding moderate losses Friday morning due to end-of-week positioning. Prices have wavered through the morning between narrowly mixed price shifts and moderate losses as trades try to get their positions set before the weekend break. Corn prices are higher in light trade. December corn futures are 4 cents higher in front-month December contracts. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 303 points higher while Nasdaq is up 87 points. LIVE CATTLE: Moderate trade has been seen through live cattle futures Friday morning, which has shifted buyer and seller activity through the morning as prices have become volatile between mixed and $1 per cwt. lower. The inconsistency in the complex is due to overall lack of heavy volume and traders trying to square positions at the end of the week. Cash cattle activity continues to develop at lower prices, although trade volume is light. Trade in the North is seen at $190 to $191 per cwt., although very few cattle have been sold at this price. Southern areas are reporting additional sales at $124 per cwt. Beef cut-outs at midday are lower, $0.40 lower (select) and down $1.12 per cwt. (choice) with light movement of 74 total loads reported (50 loads of choice cuts, 17 loads of select cuts, no loads of trimmings, six loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Price movements through the cattle complex have shifted through morning trade with mixed trade early in the session to moderate to strong losses midmorning. Moderate losses have redeveloped at midday with the most aggressive pressure seen in deferred late 2016 contract months as the focus through the market continues to be based on the recent pressure in both live cattle and feeder cattle futures. Traders are looking for increased market activity next week, but with the holidays fast approaching, there is only limited time for additional market support to develop to bring buyer activity back into the market. LEAN HOGS: Early pressure seen Friday morning has continued to intensify as the session has developed with December contracts holding a $1.25 per cwt. loss at midday. This is pushing front-month futures to $57.10 per cwt., which is off session lows, but is pointing to a weaker close following a strong week. Other contracts have been limited to moderate losses of 60 to 90 cents per cwt. at midday, but end-of-week pressure could limit the ability for markets to move much higher before the end of the session. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.63 per cwt. to $51.56 per cwt. with the range from $48.00 to $53.00 per cwt. on 4,874 head reported sold. Cash prices are unreported due to confidentiality on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The National Pork Plant Report reported 180 loads selling with prices down $0.85 per cwt. Lean hog index for 12/2 is at $56.13 up 0.32, with a projected two-day index of $56.30, down 0.17. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (BAS) Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.