DTN Closing Livestock Comment 02/10 16:28

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 02/10 16:28 Ignoring Weekly Cash Stability, Cattle Futures Close with a Triple-Digit Crash Live and feeder cattle futures settled sharply lower, pressured by long-liquation and beef demand worries. Lean hog contracts settled mildly higher supported by a decent cash strength and technical buying. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The late-week cash trade went untested with bids and asking prices difficult to identify. Final trade volume totals look moderate at best, possibly suggesting two things: 1) showlists could be larger on Monday, padded somewhat with unsold cattle carried over; 2) cattle buyers will start out short-bought, needing live inventory in the wake a relatively short round of procurement. The National hog base closed off $0.33 compared with the Prior Day settlement ($66.00-$73.25, weighted average $70.72). From Friday to Friday livestock futures scored the following changes: Feb LC off $0.50; Apr LC off $2.47; Mar FC off $1.50; May FC off $0.57; Feb LH up $4.23; Apr LH up $0.82. Corn futures closed at a six-month high, up a nickel over Thursday thanks to short-covering and signs of strong export demand. The stock market closed at another record high basis the Dow. The Dow closed 96 points higher with the NASDAQ better by 18.