DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/05 12:15

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/05 12:15 Livestock Futures Shift Higher Monday Cattle futures move higher during morning trade. The early pressure followed the active liquidation seen Friday, but has since allowed for moderate short covering through the entire complex. By Rick Kment DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Gains through the livestock market have developed at midday. This offsets early pressure seen in cattle trade. The sharp late-week liquidation seen Friday is helping to spark early-week short covering. Hog futures are fueled by strong buyer movement based on fundamental support. Corn prices are higher light trade. December corn futures are 8 cents higher. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 65 points higher while Nasdaq is up 52 points. LIVE CATTLE: Light to moderate gains are seen at midday, helping to replace the light to moderate pressure seen across the complex. The softness through the market seen last week may bring additional short covering, although the overall tone of the market remains unsettled. Traders may not be able to bring active support back into the complex until later in the week as more focus will be placed on both cash markets and outside market direction. Cash cattle activity remains inactive with show lists generally smaller although bids and asking prices are undefined at this point of the week. It is not likely to see much definition until sometime midweek or later. Beef cut-outs at midday are higher $0.61 higher (select) and up $0.79 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 67 total loads reported (30 loads of choice cuts, 16 loads of select cuts, 5 loads of trimmings, 15 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Narrow gains are developing in feeder cattle futures despite the choppy directionless trade seen through most of the morning. The lack of direction seen in the complex comes following active pressure Friday which pushed nearby contracts triple digits lower as January futures posted a $3.17 per cwt lower, moving below $125 per cwt. The ability to bring support through the week could help to instill additional buyer activity late in the month, but uncertainty in cash markets may limit upward movement. LEAN HOGS: Strong buyer support has quickly moved back into the market through nearby lean hog futures trade as buyers have quickly moved back into the market. This pushed December contracts $1.07 per cwt higher at midday with the rest of the complex 10 to 70 cents per cwt higher based on the combination of fundamental support developing through the complex. Cash prices are unreported at this time on the National Direct morning cash hog report. Cash prices are unreported at this time on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The National Pork Plant Report reported 169 loads selling with prices gaining $0.72 per cwt. Lean hog index for 12/1 is at $49.52 up $0.72 with a projected two-day index of $50.56 up $1.04. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (ES) Copyright 2016 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.