DTN Closing Livestock Comment 02/04 16:21

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 02/04 16:21 Lean Hogs Settle Moderately Higher Thanks to Follow-Through Buying Hog futures successful managed to extend Wednesday's rally, supported by follow-through buying and positive cash expectations. The cattle complex settled mostly lower with triple-digit losses dominating the feeder trade. By John Harrington DTN Senior Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: While actual cash cattle business remained at a standstill Thursday, buying interest in the South became much better defined with several packers starting out with fully steady bids (i.e., $138). Some steers and heifers in Texas and Kansas were priced around $140-$142. Both bids and asking prices in the North remained pretty much hidden. According to the closing report, the Iowa hog base is $0.93 higher compared with the Prior Day settlement ($60.00-63.00, weighted average $62.34). The corn market closed generally 2 cents lower, weighed by higher estimates of the Brazilian crop. U.S. equities closed slightly higher in choppy trading as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data. Dow closed 79 points higher with the Nasdaq better by 5.