DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 04/12 06:04

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 04/12 06:04 Cattle Futures to Maintain a Firm Undertone at Midweek Clearly claiming momentum, live and feeder futures should open with solid gains, supported by follow-through buying and improving carcass value. Lean hog issues seem likely to open mixed with summer contracts probably outperforming both nearbys and far deferreds. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-$2 HR Futures: 50-100 HR Live Equiv $141.30 + 1.40* Hogs: Steady-$1 LR Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv $ 80.53 - 1.53** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Preliminary cattle bids could start to surface Wednesday, but are likely to pale in the face of higher asking prices. Girded by Tuesday's higher board and signs of improving beef demand, we suspect initial asking prices will be around $128 to $130 in the South and $207 to $210 in the North. We believe packers are generally short bought, but their ultimate level of spending may turn on the ability of cutouts to keep recovering. Assuming that buyers and sellers will want to take more time positioning ahead of further fundamental effort, significant trade volume could easily be postponed until Thursday or Friday. Live and feeder futures seem staged to open solidly higher, supported by follow-through buying, rising carcass value and feedlot cash premiums.