DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/17 11:40

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/17 11:40 Cash Cattle Bids Surface Bids are currently being offered in the south at $187, and in the North at $296 plus. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: A weaker undertone is noted throughout the livestock complex as once again; traders are tapping their toes waiting to see what develops in a fundamental sense. Bids are currently on the table for the cash cattle market, but there's been very little trade report yet. Feedlot managers are hoping to keep the market at least steady this week but asking prices in the South are noted at $189 to $190 and in the North at $298 plus. December corn is up 3/4 cent per bushel and December soybean meal is up $2.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 125.88 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex is trading mixed as some of the market's deferred contracts are trading slightly higher, but the nearby contracts are trending slightly lower as the week's cash cattle market has yet to be established. There are bids of $187 live currently being offered in the South and dressed bids of $296 in the North. Asking prices are noted in the South at $189 to $190, and in the North at $298 plus. Feedlot managers are hoping to keep prices fully steady this week, as they know that pushing prices higher following packers' ability to get some cattle bought with time last week is somewhat unlikely. October live cattle are down $0.20 at $186.85, December live cattle are down $0.27 at $186.32 and February live cattle are up $0.15 at $187.12. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.69 ($319.82) and select up $1.78 ($294.15) with a movement of 72 loads (41.13 loads of choice, 13.47 loads of select, 5.42 loads of trim and 11.90 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: As the market nears Thursday's noon hour, the feeder cattle complex is trading mixed with the market's nearby contacts trading slightly higher as demand in the countryside is phenomenal. However, the deferred contracts remain cautious as the live cattle market is trading lower and we've yet to see what the fed cash cattle market is going to do this week. October feeders are up $0.50 at $246.60, November feeders are up $0.12 at $24562 and January feeders are down $0.17 at $243.17. Unless the live cattle market turns fully higher, it's likely that feeders will round out the day with this weaker tone. LEAN HOGS: After running up against resistance levels again on Wednesday, the lean hog complex is back to trading mostly lower as traders have found the fundamental support they're looking for. If traders are to take on the market's resistance and break through that threshold, they're going to need to see more domestic demand from consumers, and seeing better packer demand in the cash market would be helpful too. And even though pork cutout values are higher at today's noon hour, demand hasn't been stable enough for trader's liking this week. Some of the nearby contracts are trading slightly higher, but the vast majority of the complex is lower and skeptical. December lean hogs are up $0.05 at $77.75, February lean hogs are up $0.35 at $81.42 and April lean hogs are up $0.02 at $85.02. The projected lean hog index for 10/16/2024 is unavailable, but we can however see that the actual index for 10/15/2024 is down $0.23 at $83.85. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Moring Hog Report, down $2.41 with a weighted average price of $75.71, ranging from $69.00 to $77.00 on 478 head and five-day rolling average of $77.66. Pork cutouts total 186.67 loads with 143.03 loads of pork cuts and 25.64 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.23, $97.08. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.