DTN Midday Livestock Comments 09/23 11:41

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 09/23 11:41 Traders Push the Livestock Complex Higher Monday Morning Early Monday morning traders quickly advanced the cattle contracts as Friday's Cattle on Feed report was viewed as neutral and they've found more value in the market's recent fundamental gains. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: It's been a prosperous Monday for the livestock complex as all three markets are trading higher into the day's noon hour. As the contracts charge to higher price points, seeing continued fundamental demand will remain crucial. December corn is up 11 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $9.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 17.98 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex is keeping with its aggressive, upward trend as the market continues to embark on territory not last traded at since the market's plummet early in August. Trader's ambitions remain strong as they continue to push the spot December contract higher and have thus far kept the complex trading above the market's 100-day moving average. And seeing that packers only got a mere 9,746 head bought last week for the deferred delivery option, there's a strong chance that cash cattle prices could hold steady/if not trade a little higher, again this week. October live cattle are up $0.75 at $183.22, December live cattle are up $0.60 at $183.80 and February live cattle are up $1.20 at $185.00. Last week Northern dressed cattle traded for mostly $290 to $292 which is $2.00 to $4.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded for mostly $183 which is $2.00 to $3.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 86,956 head. Of that 89% (77,210 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 11% (9,746 head) were committed to the deferred delivery. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.44 ($301.63) and select up $0.33 ($288.92) with a movement of 37 loads (24.62 loads of choice, 6.87 loads of select, 3.04 loads of trim and 2.85 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex has posted a rather impressive rally thus far through Monday's trade as traders haven't seemed concerned one bit with Friday's Cattle on Feed report. Instead, traders seem more encouraged than anything by the fed cattle market's $2.00 to $4.00 jump last week, and by the fact that there's ample room technically to trade as traders continue to support both the feeder cattle and live cattle contracts and both markets have taken on key resistance points over the last ten days. October feeders are up $1.02 at $244.92, November feeders are up $0.80 at $242.57 and January feeders are up $1.00 at $237.77. LEAN HOGS: Even though morning pork cutout values are lower, the lean hog complex is again trading higher into the day's noon hour. October lean hogs are steady at $82.22, December lean hogs are up $0.55 at $74.77 and February lean hogs are up $0.75 at $78.30. Consumer demand was mixed last week, and if demand continues to be lackluster, packers could begin to reduce throughput. The projected lean hog index for 9/20/2024 is down $0.07 at $84.29, and the actual index for 9/19/2024 is down $0.02 at $84.36. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $3.13 with a weighted average price of $75.32, ranging from $72.00 to $77.50 on 500 head and a five-day rolling average of $76.81. Pork cutouts total 199.91 loads with 179.87 loads of pork cuts and 20.05 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.56, $93.59. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.