DTN Closing Livestock Comment 05/25 16:39
25 May 2016
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 05/25 16:39 Meat Futures Score Moderate Benefit From Midweek Short-Covering For the most part, cattle contracts closed moderately higher, cautiously supported by short-covering and technical buying. Lean hog issues also settled with moderate gains thanks to midweek profit-taking and still decent odds for seasonal strength. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The cash cattle arena remained poorly defined with just a few scattered bids evident here and there (e.g., $197 in the North, $124 in the South). Some showlists were priced around $200-$205 in the North and $130 in the South. According to the closing report, the national hog base is .87 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($65.00-$74.75, weighted average $74.44). Corn futures surged 6-7 cents higher with spot July moving to its highest level in seven months. U.S. stocks closed higher with energy leading as oil rose above $49 a barrel to hit fresh highs for the year so far. The Dow closed 145 points higher with the Nasdaq better by 33.