DTN Closing Livestock Comment 05/24 16:39
24 May 2016
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 05/24 16:39 Cattle Futures Slump Further Thanks to Follow-Through Selling Live and feeder futures closed mostly lower, pressured by follow-through selling and defensive pre-holiday expectations for cash and product price action. Lean hog futures settled on a mixed basis thanks to light short-covering and bull-spreading. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Although feedlot country was generally quiet Tuesday, a few starter bids were scattered across parts of the North ($195-$197) and South ($125). Some asking prices were suggested around $205-plus in the North and $130-plus in the South. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.29 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($66.00-$75.50, weighted average $74.33). Corn traded several cents higher through most of the session, supported by planting delays in parts of the ECB. Yet late profit-taking caused prices to settle fractionally mixed on the close. The stock market posted its best day since March with gains of more than 1%. The Dow closed 213 points higher with the Nasdaq positive by 95.