DTN Closing Livestock Comment 01/31 17:23

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 01/31 17:23 Sharp Losses Flood Livestock Market Thursday Aggressive late-day pressure pushed futures in all livestock markets triple digits lower Thursday. The losses add even more uncertainty to the direction of livestock trade in early February. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Livestock trade started the day relatively stable, but then things took a nasty turn the last half of Thursday's trading session. There was no significant news to give a boost to the already weak hog complex. Any initial buyer support quickly evaporated, pushing prices lower through the end of January. Triple-digit losses developed in all live cattle futures, while the biggest losses in lean hogs were contained to nearby futures. Cash activity remained generally undeveloped Thursday with packers showing limited interest through the end of January. A few cattle were sold at $197 dressed basis in Iowa through the last half of the day. But this is not enough to establish a good test at this point. More aggressive packer bids are expected Friday morning, but may not be able to get much business done until later in the day. Asking prices remain at $126 to $127 live, and $200 to $203 per cwt dressed. The National Daily Direct afternoon hog report is $0.49 lower ($48-$51.75, weighted average $50.84) on 12,435 head sold. Corn futures were lower in light activity with the March futures contract 4 cents lower. The Dow Jones Index was 15 points lower with the Nasdaq up 98 points.