DTN Midday Livestock Comments 06/21 12:11

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 06/21 12:11 Feeder Cattle Rebound on Weak Corn Moves The continued pressure in the grain complex, and specifically the aggressive losses in corn markets, have left buyers active with feeder cattle futures holding strong triple-digit gains. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Feeder cattle futures have posted aggressive midday gains following the continued pressure in the grain markets. There may be some increased buyer support later in the day following the strong widespread gains in the cattle complex. Corn prices are lower. July corn futures are 22 cents lower. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 22 points higher while Nasdaq is up 2 points. LIVE CATTLE: Firm gains are holding in live cattle futures following a surge of buyer support that redeveloped midday in feeder cattle markets. The $2 to $2.50 per cwt rally in the feeder cattle futures has pushed summer and fall contracts to $1 per cwt higher. There still is a lot of uncertainty surrounding market fundamentals, but the lack of support in grain markets is changing the cost to feed cattle, helping to draw buyers back to the market. Cash cattle markets are still quiet with the price shifts over the last couple of days likely to limit additional market activity through the rest of the day. Bids and asking prices are hard to pin down at this point, but may develop over the next couple of days. Beef cut-outs at midday are mixed $0.22 higher (select) and down $1.76 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 75 total loads reported (32 loads of choice cuts, 20 loads of select cuts, 9 loads of trimmings, 13 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Aggressive triple-digit gains have stepped back into the complex following lack of trade activity through most of the morning. The sharp double-digit losses seen in the grain complex is the main focus of feeder cattle buying. This recent support may be limited depending on the moves in outside commodity markets and other grain futures trade though the end of the week and last half of June. LEAN HOGS: Lean hog futures are mostly lower, although trade volumes remain extremely light through the morning. This is keeping prices in a narrow range through most of the morning with front month July futures limited to 17-cent losses. The lack of market shifts through the entire complex could allow for late-day buyer support to redevelop, although the overall tone of the market is likely to remain unchanged over the near future. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $1.66 per cwt to $78.38 per cwt with the range from $73.00 to $80.00 per cwt on 2,944 head reported sold. Cash prices are lower on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $3.13 per cwt to $78.18 per cwt with the range from $73.00 to $80.00 per cwt on 410 head reported sold. The National Pork Plant Report reported 190 loads selling with prices up $0.35 per cwt. Lean hog index for 6/17 is at $82.92, up 0.30 with a projected two-day index of $83.13 up 0.21. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (CZ) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.