DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/03 11:58

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/03 11:58 Livestock Futures Pull Back from Early Gains Aggressive losses are seen in nearby live cattle and lean hog futures at midday as buyer support quickly evaporated through the morning. The focus on livestock fundamentals may help to draw additional interest back into the complex, but futures are expected to remain choppy. By Rick Kment DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Strong pressure is quickly developing in both live cattle and lean hog futures trade through the morning. Wide shifts seen in the complex through the holiday week as well as end of year market movements have created some potential shifts still to develop as traders actively return to the market. Corn prices are higher in light trade. March corn futures are 4 cents higher. Stock markets are higher in light trade. The Dow Jones is 18 points higher while Nasdaq is up 16 points. LIVE CATTLE: Firm pressure is holding in live cattle futures at midday. This follows the inability for traders to stay focused on firm buyer interest developing early in the session. The strong turn lower at the end of last week has created additional market uncertainty through early January. Cash cattle markets remain quiet with the only activity seen through the market is show list distribution. At this point asking prices are hard to pin down, and it may be late Wednesday or later before strong asking prices are seen. With the short week, there will continue to be focus on gaining access for processing through the rest of the month. Beef cut-outs at midday are higher, $1.79 higher (select) and up $0.24 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 74 total loads reported (35 loads of choice cuts, 9 loads of select cuts, 8 loads of trimmings, 22 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder cattle futures remain mostly higher, but strong gains seen early Tuesday have faded to narrow gains at midday. The inability to hold higher prices given the pressure through the rest of the complex may spark additional market pressure in the complex. There has been even more pressure developing across the live cattle market at midday, although firming cattle values in the cash market may help to minimize long-term pressure. LEAN HOGS: Lean hog futures have remained volatile early Tuesday morning focusing on the overall lack of long-term buyer support redeveloping through early January trade. Nearby futures posted strong follow through gains early Tuesday morning, but the inability to draw additional buyer support pushed front month February futures triple digits lower, creating additional uncertainty through the market. Choppy trade is expected to be seen through the rest of the complex as traders continue to look for additional long term direction. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.83 at $51.14 per cwt with the range from $45.00 to $52.50 on 3,165 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 163 loads selling with prices falling $0.15 per cwt. Lean hog index for 12/29 is at $57.76 down $0.22 with a projected two-day index of $57.47 down $0.29. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (ES) Copyright 2017 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.