DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/17 16:33
17 Dec 2015
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/17 16:33 Cattle Futures Pounded to New Contract Lows The cattle complex imploded sharply lower Thursday, pressured by long-liquidation, technical selling, and outside market. Lean hog futures also suffered triple-digit losses thanks to fundamental worries and spillover bearishness. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Cash activity in feedlot country was generally light to moderate with live sales in parts of the South at $117-$118 and dressed deals in the North marked at $183-$184. Colorado and western Nebraska did report some live business at $117. For the most part, live prices were $1-$2 lower than last week. According to the closing report, the Iowa hog base is $0.80 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($48.00-$50.00, weighted average $49.21). After trading significantly lower for most of the session, corn futures reversed to finish 4-5 cents higher. Most bulls credited the bean market for the dramatic turnaround and reports of South American dryness. The stock market closed near session lows as investors stewed over slumping oil prices and consequences stemming from the strengthening dollar. The Dow collapsed by 253 points with the Nasdaq off 68.