DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 07/09 06:14

DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 07/09 06:14 Hog Market Pressure Adds Long-Term Concerns Active pressure in lean hog trade Monday sparked additional uncertainty about the long-term support in the pork market. This will likely lead to a combination of follow-through liquidation and short-covering Tuesday morning. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Higher Live Equiv: $139.67 -0.18* Hogs: Steady to $1 Lower Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $ 76.70 -1.29** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: Limited activity is expected in the cash cattle markets Tuesday with bids and asking prices still undefined and are likely to remain that way at least until later in the day and potentially midweek. Given the steady-to-firm moves in cash trade last week, feedlot managers are expected to become even more aggressive despite continued pressure in futures trade and beef values early in the week. Packers are likely to float initial token bids over the next couple of days, which without a major breakdown in futures trade will not gain much attention at this point in the week. There is some expectation that at least light trade may develop in the South by Wednesday following the trend for cash business earlier in the week and over the last couple of months, but at this point, feeders are unlikely to back away from early-week expectations. Futures trade is expected to open steady-to-moderately higher Tuesday morning as short-covering moves through nearby live cattle trade following the adjustments late Monday. The underlying tone of the market remains firm, which has tested short-term resistance levels over the last week. Commercial support coming back in the complex in the next week is likely to bring additional underlying support, trade volume and price moves in all live cattle trade. Feeder cattle futures continue to be closely tied to moves in the grain market, but the focus on firming live cattle futures is sparking renewed market support as traders build on holiday market gains late last week.