DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/23 12:15

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/23 12:15 Cattle Futures Pull Back from Mixed Trade at Midday Pressure redeveloped across cattle futures midday Monday. The narrow mixed trade that developed most of the morning helped to draw additional pressure through midday. By Rick Kment DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Moderate pressure is seen at midday as cattle trade has remained choppy through most of the morning. The overall lack of longer term direction in the complex continues to drive sellers back into the market. Corn prices are lower in light trade. March corn futures are 2 cents lower. Stock markets are lower in light trade. The Dow Jones is 48 points lower while Nasdaq is down 13 points. LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures are holding moderate losses at midday despite remaining mixed through most of the morning. The overall lack of follow through buyer support may continue to drive additional pressure into the complex in front of closing bell. Cash cattle is quiet with show lists mixed to slightly higher overall as traders continue to look for additional direction and bids developing later in the week. Beef cut-outs at midday are mixed, $0.07 lower (select) and up $0.58 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 60 total loads reported (35 loads of choice cuts, 9 loads of select cuts, 7 loads of trimmings, 9 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder cattle futures have bounced higher and lower in mixed trade through the session as traders continue to focus on the overall lack of support in live cattle trade. Losses are seen at midday from 20 to 50 cents per cwt, which could bring about additional pressure late in the day. LEAN HOGS: Lean hog futures remain under pressure at midday Monday, although buyers are slowly trying to step back into the market as prices have moved off of session lows. The long-term support in the complex continues to drive additional uncertainty as there continues to be lack of direction on demand for pork. Cash prices are lower on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $1.07 at $61.81 per cwt with the range from $58.00 to $64.75 on 2,895 head reported sold. Cash prices are lower on the Iowa Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price fell $0.49 at $63.25 per cwt with the range from $58.00 to $64.75 on 160 head reported sold. The National Pork Plant Report reported 149 loads selling with prices falling $1.07 per cwt. Lean hog index for 1/18 is at $66.69 up $0.68 with a projected two-day index of $67.01 up $0.32. Rick Kment can be reached at rick.kment@dtn.com (ES) Copyright 2017 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.