DTN Closing Livestock Comment 01/06 16:43

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 01/06 16:43 For the Most Part, Cattle Futures Close Week With Modest Gains With the exception of spot February live, cattle contracts closed Friday's session with modest gains, supported by light short-covering and pre-weekend profit-taking. On the other hand, lean hog contracts closed mixed with nearby issues losing ground to May through July. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Despite limited trade volume totals, cattle buyers chose not to push for more cattle Friday. Other than a few odds and ends, the cash cattle market was at a near standstill. We suspect that carryover cattle will work to increase the size of next week's offering. The national hog base closed $0.36 higher compared with the Prior Day settlement ($51.00-$58.00, weighted average $55.21). From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: Feb LC, Off $1.23; Apr LC, Off $0.37; Jan FC, Off $2.13; Mar FC, Off $1.30; Feb LH, Off $2.18; Apr LH, Up $0.13. Corn futures closed generally 3 cents lower, pressured by disappointing export sales and spillover selling from the bean market. Closing within throwing distance of the magic 20,000 threshold, the Dow closed 64 points higher. Setting another new all-time record high, the Nasdaq closed 33 points in the green.