DTN Midday Livestock Comments 04/21 12:04

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 04/21 12:04 Live Cattle Futures Trickle Higher at Midday Live cattle futures have shifted higher and lower through the morning the lower with light trade seen through the morning. The focus on lower corn markets through the morning has drawn active buyers back into the feeder cattle complex. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Cattle trade is expected to remain lightly traded through the end of the session with mixed prices holding following the firmness seen in feeder cattle markets. Live cattle futures are moving lower as lack of buyer interest is once again evident. Corn prices are lower. May corn futures are 3 cents lower. Stock markets are lower in light trade. The Dow Jones is 51 points lower while Nasdaq is up 3 points. LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures have bounced back and forth in a moderate trading range through most of the morning with April futures still holding a narrow gain at midday while the rest of the complex has once again dipped lower in light pressure. The support in feeder cattle futures has been unable to hold markets higher through the end of the session through previous sessions and this may be the case once again Thursday. Cash cattle markets remain generally quiet with trade likely being pushed off until Friday. Bids are seen at $126 to $127 in the South and $200 to $208 in the North, although the consistency through the market remains hard to pin down through the morning. Beef cut-outs at midday are mixed, $0.91 higher (select) and down $1.06 per cwt (choice) with moderate movement of 98 total loads reported (58 loads of choice cuts, 22 loads of select cuts, 7 loads of trimmings, 12 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Moderate buyer support has developed through the feeder cattle complex Thursday morning based on the pullback in corn prices. The attention centered around recent production cost shifts associated with the higher corn and soybean meal prices over the last week has caused much interest in feeder cattle futures, but buyer interest quickly resurfaced through the morning, pushing nearby feeder cattle 10 to 60 cents per cwt higher. LEAN HOGS: Traders through the hog complex have shaken off early pressure in nearby contracts as buyer support has moved back into the market following narrow gains developing in all contracts at midday. The firm gains in pork values continue to draw buyer interest through the complex continue put additional attention on the ability to draw more activity into the market and potentially put traders back into the complex through the last couple hours of trade. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.55 per cwt to $63.64 per cwt with the range from $57.00 to $66.25 per cwt on 3,588 head reported sold. Cash prices are lower on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.26 per cwt to $65.26 per cwt with the range from $57.00 to $66.25 per cwt on 1,478 head reported sold. The National Pork Plant Report reported 161 loads selling with prices up $0.71 per cwt. Lean hog index for 4/19 is at $67.02, up 0.32 with a projected two-day index of $67.36, up 0.34. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (ES) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.