DTN Midday Livestock Comments 06/10 09:13

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 06/10 09:13 Cattle Futures Slip Lower Friday Morning Light to moderate pressure has developed in live cattle and feeder cattle futures as traders are not only concerned about follow through support in beef and cash cattle market fundamentals, but the direction of grain markets on production costs through the summer and fall. Lean hog futures are mixed in light trade early Friday morning. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Moderate pressure is seen across cattle futures as traders continue to pull back from the buyer support seen early in the week. There continues to be concern about long-term interest stepping into both live cattle and feeder cattle futures as the direction of grain markets continues to affect production costs. Corn prices are trading higher in light trade. Stock markets are lower in light trade. Dow Jones is 126 points lower while Nasdaq is down 53 points. LIVE CATTLE: Opening call: Steady to 30 cents lower. Narrow losses are holding in live cattle futures for the time being, although there seems to be an underlying concern that end-of-week pressure could redevelop with uncertainty surrounding the cash market movements. The recent support in boxed beef values could help to draw market support back into the complex, although traders may continue remain cautious heading into the weekend. Cash cattle activity remains generally quiet with just a few scattered bids developing early in the morning. This followed light trade in a wide range through the North Thursday. Additional activity is expected to need to be done in both the North and the South before the end of the day. Open interest Thursday fell 663 positions (251,299). Spot June fell 532 positions (17,586) and August contracts fell 1,322 positions (121,347). DTN projected slaughter for Friday is 109,000 head. FEEDER CATTLE: Opening call: Steady to 50 cents lower. The lack of direction seen Thursday is leaving even more market uncertainty in the complex with prices holding moderate losses in nearby contracts and more aggressive pressure in the deferred contracts. The lack of movement through the trade continues to drive additional losses through the market following a volatile shift over the last couple of weeks. Cash lean index for 6/8 is 148.65, up 0.33. Open interest Thursday added 132 positions (39,068). LEAN HOGS: Opening call: Mixed. Light market shifts are slowly developing early Friday morning as traders are trying to measure the impact of the pullback in the July and August contracts seen Thursday. The lack of trade volume early Friday as well as stable cash markets going into the weekend could lead to lackluster market movement through the end of the week. Cash bids are steady. Open interest Thursday added 4,261 positions (257,584). Spot month June fell 1,503 positions (11,926) and July liquidated 3,479 positions (53,893). Cash lean index for 6/08 is 79.76, up 0.74. DTN projected slaughter for Friday is 392,000 head, with 25,000 expected Saturday. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (ES) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.