DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/23 16:41
23 Dec 2015
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/23 16:41 Live Contracts Slam Higher Again, High Enough to Trigger Expanded Limits Thursday The cattle complex kept rolling significantly higher, supported by bullish momentum, technical buying, and improving fundamentals. Lean hog contracts settled solidly higher thanks to pre-report short-covering and positive sympathy with bullish cattle action. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Light trade developed in the Northern tier of feedlot country with dressed deals reported as high as $200 (i.e., $16 higher basis Nebraska). Trade volume totals look inadequate at this time, suggesting three possibilities: 1) more business could surface over the next several hours; 2) cattle buyers will work some on Christmas Eve; or packers will start next week extremely close to the knife. According to the closing report, the Iowa hog base is $0.58 higher compared with the Prior Day settlement ($44.00-$50.00, weighted average $49.20). Corn futures settled fractionally lower in light trade volume. U.S. stocks closed higher led by recovery in oil prices and commodities-related sectors. The Dow advanced by 165 points with the Nasdaq up 64.