DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 03/24 06:11

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 03/24 06:11 Trader Positioning Likely Ahead of Weekend Live cattle closed slightly lower as mixed cash trading did not develop any excitement. Mixed boxed beef also continues to be the pattern. Hog futures again made new lows but were able to bounce as short-covering took place after the recent large decline. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv: $209.53 +$0.53* Hogs: Lower Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $87.58+0.44** *Based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue. (The Live Cattle Equiv. Index has been updated to depict recent changes in live cattle weights and grading percentages.) ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue. GENERAL COMMENTS: There had been some hope cattle would shrug off the mixed cash trade that had developed on Wednesday, but such was not the case. Although cash trading activity was rather light again Thursday, it still remained mixed with prices averaging $1.00 lower in the South and $1.00 higher in the North. Anything else that trades the rest of the week will likely follow the same pattern. Boxed beef continues to run mixed with choice up $1.48 and select down $0.93. With beef packer margins below last year and the three-year average. Packers will attempt to improve those margins by trying to purchase cattle at reduced prices. Weekly export sales were 5% better than last week at 18,600 MT, but still ran lower than desired to provide strong support under the market. Total beef in inventory for the month of February was 500.2 million pounds, down 6% from a year earlier.