DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/28 12:00

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/28 12:00 Cattle Futures Rebound at Midday Cattle futures rebound at midday with mixed trade seen in both live cattle and feeder cattle contracts. The focus on late-day buyer support stepping into the market has quickly eroded early morning losses, putting more emphasis on follow through buyer support. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Cattle futures move higher at midday with nearby gains developing in live cattle contracts with the focus on trade activity through the rest of the complex remaining extremely light. Lean hog futures have continued to hold strong gains as buyer support is strong but continues to remain under tight control. Corn prices are lower in light trade. March corn futures are 3 cents lower. Stock markets are lower in light trade. The Dow Jones is 83 points lower while Nasdaq is down 30 points. LIVE CATTLE: Initial pressure in live cattle trade is now turning into narrowly mixed price moves with light buyer support stepping into the complex through the last half of the trading session. This may help to push futures higher through the end of the session, allowing markets to close higher Monday afternoon. The focus on recent market gains and higher cash cattle trade last week is sparking additional interest through the entire complex. The lack of overall trade volume in the market remains a concern for the market as a whole, but this may keep traders occupied for the next several sessions or until the end of the year at least. Cash cattle activity remains at a standstill with bids and asking prices still undeveloped. Showlists are larger which is not unexpected with packers look forward to the first full week of January and higher prices last week brings out the desire to sell more cattle. Even though both sides will desire to get business done early in the week it is not nearly as essential to wrap up business by Wednesday like it was last week before Christmas. But both sides will want to have business done before Thursday comes to an end. Beef cut-outs at midday are higher, $3.08 higher (select) and up $1.82 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 27 total loads reported (12 loads of choice cuts, 8 loads of select cuts, 1 load of trimmings, 6 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: January feeder cattle futures have moved higher at midday after giving back early losses despite the strong pressure in the rest of the complex. The rest of the market remains under light pressure due more to lack of volume in the complex rather than any other factor. March futures continue to hold a 97 cent per cwt loss, although the tone of the complex is lower, the downward move Monday means very little compared to the aggressive market surge seen over the last couple of weeks. A market correction that is limited to moderate losses is helpful to keep buyers in the market at this point, in order to keep traders from getting too out of line and overextended. LEAN HOGS: Firm gains are holding across the entire lean hog futures complex with front month February futures leading the complex higher with a $1.15 per cwt higher. This is helping to firm buyer support in all nearby contracts as traders focus on the potential that pork supplies may continue to remain firm through the next several of months and demand support could be seen through early January. Light buyer support is expected to hold through the remainder of the session. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.71 per cwt to $47.06 per cwt with the range from $46.58 to $49.00 per cwt on 3,358 head reported sold. Cash prices are higher on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price added $0.01 per cwt to $48.71 per cwt with the range from $47.50 to $49.00 per cwt on 403 head reported sold. The National Pork Plant Report reported 122 loads selling with prices up $1.80 per cwt. Lean hog index for 12/22 is at $54.25 down 0.16, with a projected two-day index of $54.01, down 0.24. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (BAS) Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.