DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/16 11:54

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/16 11:54 Lackadaisical Tones Leave Livestock Complex Mixed at Wednesday's Noon Hour No cash cattle trade has developed at this point Wednesday, but packer interest could improve throughout the day. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Thus far it's been a mixed day for the livestock complex as traders seem somewhat interested in supporting the livestock contracts but are yearning to see better fundamental support before aggressively doing so. Still no cash cattle trade has developed and no bids are currently on the table. December corn is up 3 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $1.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 242.93 points. LIVE CATTLE: It's a quiet and dreary slow trading day for the live cattle complex. Traders are trying to remain patient, waiting for the cash cattle market to trade as they're hopeful fundamental support will be strong again this week. Tuesday's lower close was largely due to the fact that traders believe the market is overbought and consequently some liquidation happened throughout the futures complex. There's a chance if the cash cattle market is able to trade steady/somewhat higher this week traders could again turn the board higher; but at this point no cash cattle trade has developed. Asking prices are noted in the South at $189 to $190, but prices have not yet been noted for the North. At this point, it's likely trade will hold off until Thursday or Friday. October live cattle are up $0.40 at $187.12, December live cattle are up $0.07 at $186.60, and February live cattle are down $0.22 at $187.17. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $1.99 ($318.82) and select down $0.80 ($291.29) with a movement of 87 loads (50.56 loads of choice, 19.90 loads of select, 3.67 loads of trim and 12.91 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: With the live cattle complex trading slightly lower and corn prices up, it comes as no surprise the feeder cattle complex is being timid and again trading lower. October feeders are up $0.07 at $246.60, November feeders are down $0.57 at $245.90, and January feeders are down $0.32 at $243.90. Wednesday's weakness again seems to be driven by a lack of trader interest in the market as traders still seem to believe the complex is overbought, and the feeder cattle market doesn't seem to be willing to do anything without the support of the live cattle market first. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is back to rallying as traders are making up for the lost ground left behind in Tuesday's close. December lean hogs are up $1.97 at $77.20, February lean hogs are up $1.67 at $80.97, and April lean hogs are up $1.15 at $84.95. Wednesday's move seems to be largely driven by a slight bounce back from traders, but it is worth nothing that midday pork cutout values are higher. If the complex is able to sustain this momentum through Wednesday's end and the week's export sales report is strong -- then maybe there's a chance traders could maintain these levels through the later part of the week. More than anything at this point traders need reassurance and stable fundamental support. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 10/15/2024 is down $0.23 at $83.85, and the actual index for 10/14/2024 is down $0.08 at $84.08. Hog prices on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report average $78.12, ranging from $73.00 to $80.00 on 2,020 head and a five-day rolling average of $78.12. Pork cutouts total 217.33 loads with 201.99 loads of pork cuts and 15.34 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.62, $95.02. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.