DTN Closing Livestock Comment 04/01 15:54
1 Apr 2016
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 04/01 15:54 Hogs and Pigs Assessment Opens Week Bullish But Ends Bearish Lean hog futures closed sharply lower with May through December losing triple-digits. On the other hand, live cattle contracts settled on a mixed basis thanks to pre-weekend short-covering and long liquidation. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: From Friday to Friday livestock futures scored the following Changes: Apr LC, Off $2.88; Jun LC, Off $1.80; May FC, Off $0.32; Aug FC, Up $0.15, Apr LH, Off $1.82 May LH, Off $1.15. The late-week cattle trade was very slow with only scattered sales reported in parts of the North (i.e. $215, steady with Wednesday but $3 below last week). In general, trade volume totals for the week look quite small, suggesting that feedlots will carryover unsold numbers into next week. According to the closing report, the Iowa hog base is $0.79 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($55.00-$64.50, weighted average $63.48). Corn futures closed higher Friday, up 2 1/2 cents in the May and up 1 cent in the December.