DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/11 11:41

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/11 11:41 Cattle Futures Hold Strong Morning Gains at Midday Despite cash cattle trade still remaining undeveloped Friday morning, futures trade continues to hold strong gains. The focus on follow-through buyer support continues to draw buyers to the complex despite light volume on the holiday-traded session. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Livestock futures continue to hold moderate to firm gains Friday as trade volume remains light to moderate on Veterans Day. Some outside markets remain closed due to the federal holiday, leaving some institutional traders out of the market at the end of the week. Corn prices are lower in light trade. December corn futures are 3 cents higher. Stock markets are mixed in light trade. The Dow Jones is 6 points lower while Nasdaq is up 13 points. LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures are holding firm gains at midday, although prices have bounced around in a moderate to wide range during the lightly traded morning session. Nearby live cattle contracts continue to hold at the top end of the recent price range, with uncertainty if there is enough underlying support to push through short-term resistance levels before the end of the week. Continued moves higher early next week would help to solidify market support through the complex and bring additional commercial buyer activity to the table. Cash cattle activity remains quiet Friday near midday with just a few bids seen in both the North and South. Bids of $101 per cwt are seen live basis and $160 dressed basis. Beef cut-outs at midday are lower $88 lower (select) and down $0.26 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 78 total loads reported (22 loads of choice cuts, 18 loads of select cuts, no loads of trimmings, 37 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Moderate gains continue to hold through feeder cattle trade as buyers have focused on follow-through support seen during the week, but remain cautiously optimistic given the light trade volume during the Friday session and still range-bound trade activity through the entire complex. Feeder cattle futures are holding moderate gains of 40 to 60 cents per cwt with little expected market shifts expected to be seen through the end of the session. LEAN HOGS: Early gains in lean hog futures have been trimmed at midday as light volume seen through most markets during the end-of-the-week Veterans Day holiday have continued to shift market attention away from market activity Friday late morning. Even though nearby contracts continue to hold moderate gains of 20 to 30 cents per cwt, mixed trade through the rest of the complex continues to erode the underlying market support in the complex. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.44 per cwt to $41.15 per cwt with the range from $39.00 to $42.00 on 1,638 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 134 loads selling with prices falling $0.01 per cwt. Lean hog index for 11/9 is at $49.55 down $0.25 with a projected two-day index of $49.55 down $0.25. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (ES) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.