DTN Closing Livestock Comment 01/04 16:06

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 01/04 16:06 Bull Spreaders Resurface to Support Nearby Lean Hog Issues Cattle futures closed mixed in the live market and significantly lower in the feeder market. On the other hand, lean hog settled mostly higher with nearby issues gaining on their deferred counterparts. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Light-to-moderate cash cattle trade surfaced in several states through the day. Live sales in the South were marked at $117-$118, steady to $1 lower. Some dressed biz was evident in parts of Nebraska at $188, about $1 lower than the weighted average. The Fed Cattle Exchange Auction report Wednesday listed a total of 5,711 head, with 4,826 actually sold. The state by state breakdown looks like this: KS 389 head at $117.00-$117.25, NE 3,892 head at $115.50-$117.00; TX 545 head, at $117.00-$117.25; CO no test; IA no test; other states no test. The weighted average was $116.77, up from last week's weighted average of $115.38. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $1.11 higher ($51.00-$55.50, weighted average $53.79). Corn futures advance by 4 cents or so, supported by better action in the bean market and some suggestions of excessive rain in Argentina. The stock market firmed after Fed minutes were released with the Dow closing within 100 points of the 20,000-threshold. The Dow closed 60 points in the green with the Nasdaq better by 42.