DTN Midday Livestock Comments 08/11 12:11

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 08/11 12:11 Hog Futures Hold Strong Morning Gains Early support in the lean hog futures complex continues to hold at midday as buyers are quickly moving back into the market. This will continue to draw support based on the oversold status in the complex. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Lean hog futures continue to draw additional buyer support back into the complex Thursday morning with strong triple-digit gains seen in nearby contracts. Cattle futures remain lower, but have backed away from sharp morning losses as selling interest quickly slowed. Corn prices are lower in light trade. September corn futures are 0.5 cent lower. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 129 points higher while Nasdaq is up 25 points. LIVE CATTLE: Narrow losses are holding in the live cattle futures are midday. This is a significant improvement over the sharp triple-digit pressure that was seen through most of the morning. The pullback from $2 per cwt losses and greater in the feeder cattle market continues to create additional stability in the live cattle market, even though the tone seems to be weakening slightly from the aggressive support seen last week. Cash cattle activity remains relatively light Thursday morning with just a few cattle sold in Iowa at $187 per cwt. This is the same price level as light trade developed in Nebraska Wednesday. Bids remain in the South at $116 to $117 per cwt, and $185 to $187 in the North. Beef cut-outs at midday are higher $0.60 higher (select) and up $0.48 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 67 total loads reported (32 loads of choice cuts, 14 loads of select cuts, 5 loads of trimmings, 15 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Sharp losses continue to hold across the feeder cattle market Thursday morning, although the tone of the market remains somewhat unsettled just because of the strong support seen over the last week and a half. The feeder cattle market is well off of early lows, with most contracts holding losses around $1 per cwt at midday. This could help to bring some stability to the market, but trade activity remains sluggish. LEAN HOGS: Aggressive morning gains continue to hold through the lean hog futures complex as buyers are actively stepping back into the complex following the long trend lower seen over the last few weeks. This market shift has pushed October futures back above the $60 per cwt level. Although the overall fundamentals in the market remain sluggish at best, the ability to gain and keep the attention of traders through the next couple weeks could significantly change the direction of the market. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $1.29 per cwt to $59.89 per cwt with the range from $55.00 to $61.50 per cwt on 2,914 head reported sold. Cash prices are lower on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $2.66 per cwt to $59.72 per cwt with the range from $55.00 to $61.50 per cwt on 294 head reported sold. The National Pork Plant Report reported 155 loads selling with prices falling $2.78 per cwt. Lean hog index for 8/9 is at $68.79, down 0.63 with a projected two-day index of $68.20 down 0.59. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (CZ) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.