DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 07/18 06:06

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 07/18 06:06 Meat Futures to Remain on the Defensive Monday Look for the cattle complex to open moderately lower, checked by follow-through selling and lower feedlot sales on Friday. Lean hog contacts also seem likely to struggle with bearish momentum in the early rounds. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 LR Futures: 50-100 LR Live Equiv $137.21 - .28* Hogs: Steady-$1 LR Futures: 50-100 LR Lean Equiv $ 95.83 + .22** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Light to moderate trade volume surfaced late Friday in the fed cattle market with live deals marked at $117 in the South ($3 lower) and dressed sales tagged at mostly $187 ($4 lower). Activity Monday should be typically limited to the collection of showlists. Ready numbers should be steady to somewhat larger. We may not see much in terms of asking prices until midweek, until the stability (or lack of) the board gives a greater suggestion of cash prospects. Live and feeder futures are staged to open moderately lower, pressured by residual selling and negative fundamentals.