DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 02/06 06:16

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 02/06 06:16 Further Selling Pressure May Continue Both live cattle and feeder cattle futures were lower across the board Monday. Some of the pressure may have come from the market being overbought and in need of correction. Traders developed some concerns about whether cash could increase this week. Hogs posted triple-digit losses through the first-half of the year contracts as packers were not aggressive to begin the week. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv: $216.69 +0.25* Hogs: Lower Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $93.71 -$0.80** *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: Trading began with a little bit of optimism but fizzled out as Monday progressed. Traders seemed to turn a little less optimistic in their hope for cash this week. This was not driven by boxed beef, which was steady to higher at midday and closed higher for the day. Choice gained $0.40 with select up $0.30. Cattle futures were overbought, which likely was a factor impacting trading activity, but not until after futures pushed to higher highs in the February through August live cattle contracts. Feeder cattle had a similar move but did not make a higher high before falling back. Feeder cattle were trading mixed at auctions Monday.