DTN Midday Livestock Comments 08/17 12:03

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 08/17 12:03 Strong Gains Move Back Into Hog Contracts at Midday Livestock futures continue to remain mixed Wednesday morning with lean hog futures battling back from early losses as prices have not posted strong midday gains. The cattle complex remains unsupported with traders looking for buyer interest, but unable to find much support midweek. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Strong gains have redeveloped through the lean hog futures complex Wednesday morning as prices continue to swing back and forth on a daily basis like a pendulum as traders try to back away from sharp losses which developed Tuesday. Cattle futures are generally unsupportive, but the moves higher and lower through the morning also point to a general of directionless market activity which may continue through the rest of the week. Corn prices are higher in light trade. September corn futures are 1.75 cents higher. Stock markets are lower in light trade. The Dow Jones is 35 points lower while Nasdaq is down 12 points. LIVE CATTLE: Mixed trade seen at midday is indicative to the overall lack of direction and lackluster attitude seen during the entire morning. Prices have bounced back and forth in a moderate trading range with essentially no additional direction developing in fundamental markets and traders still cautious concerning the recent market pullback from previous gains. Deferred futures continue to hang onto single-digit gains at midday, while moderate pressure is limiting any support through nearby contracts. Trade volume is expected to remain extremely light through the entire complex. Cash cattle markets remain quiet Wednesday morning with just a few bids redeveloping in the North from $185 to $187 per cwt. Asking price remain at $122 in the South and $190 to $192 in the North, as active trade is not expected to develop until sometime Thursday or Friday. Beef cut-outs at midday are higher $0.60 higher (select) and up $0.14 per cwt (choice) with active movement of 120 total loads reported (57 loads of choice cuts, 30 loads of select cuts, 3 loads of trimmings, 30 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder cattle futures have bounced higher and lower through the morning with contracts currently holding light to moderate pressure at midday. The overall lack of direction in the entire complex points to the fact that traders remain concerned about sustaining early month gains, but are still undecided as to just how much pressure may be seen through the end of the month. This will likely add to the lack of direction in the feeder cattle market through the rest of the week with traders focusing on cash cattle trade and the direction of the cattle on feed report at the end of the week. LEAN HOGS: Despite the weak start Wednesday morning and early losses through the complex, moderate to strong buyer support redeveloped across all lean hog futures trade with prices hovering around $1 per cwt at midday. The lack of consistency and see-saw action seen through the week is creating very little confidence that additional follow through support will develop through the rest of the week, but the inability to push prices lower midweek is still helping to give traders renewed direction. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $1.02 per cwt to $61.95 per cwt with the range from $55.00 to $65.50 per cwt on 3,742 head reported sold. Cash prices are unreported due to confidentiality on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The National Pork Plant Report reported 252 loads selling with prices gaining $1.31 per cwt. Lean hog index for 8/15 is at $66.92, down 0.11 with a projected two-day index of $67.17 up 0.25. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (CZ) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.