DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/24 12:15

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/24 12:15 Moderate Pressure Holds in Cattle Futures Triple-digit losses continue to hold in cattle contracts with live cattle and feeder cattle markets shifting lower Tuesday morning. The pressure is putting additional weakness on the entire cattle market. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Strong pressure continues to be seen in the cattle futures, with triple-digit losses still holding in the live cattle and feeder cattle markets. Although prices are well off of session lows as traders have backed away from levels seen midmorning. Lean hog futures remain lower, but in light trade with very little activity developing. Corn prices are higher. May corn futures are 3 cents higher. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 214 points higher while Nasdaq is up 86 points. LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures have backed away from early session lows as additional focus has been placed on the movement in the cash cattle activity which has actually developed bids although no trade activity. There is likely to be some additional market shifts in futures trade through the end of the day, but the majority of the market pressure is likely to be seen through the morning as traders seem to have posted initial selling activity and are now focused on squaring positions. Cash cattle markets are starting to show a few bids Tuesday as packers will likely try to get access to cattle sooner rather than later before the holiday weekend. Bids are seen dressed at $197 in the North and $126 in the South. This may limit activity at this point, but may continue to draw interest through midweek or later. Beef cut-outs at midday are mixed, $1.68 higher (select) and down $0.21 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 71 total loads reported (23 loads of choice cuts, 24 loads of select cuts, 9 loads of trimmings, 15 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder cattle futures have quickly backed away from early losses with nearby contracts now trading $1 to $2 per cwt lower at midday. This is nearly $1 per cwt from session lows based on little more than lack of follow-through market activity in the complex. The overall tone of the market remains sluggish with the underlying tone soft. But markets may wander in a moderate to narrow range through the rest of the trading range Tuesday. LEAN HOGS: Light losses continue to draw pressure back into the lean hog market with softness developing on the complex as very little support is seen in cash or pork values through the week. The potential to drive markets even lower through the end of the month may continue to push prices across the entire complex lower and bring even more softness to the entire market. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.94 per cwt to $73.68 per cwt with the range from $66.00 to $75.00 per cwt on 3,023 head reported sold. Cash prices are unreported due to confidentiality on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The National Pork Plant Report reported 175 loads selling with prices down $1.14 per cwt. Lean hog index for 5/20 is at $78.93, up 0.12 with a projected two-day index of $78.96, up 0.03. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (ES) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.