DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/29 11:33

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/29 11:33 Lackadaisical Tones Send Cattle Lower, But Hogs Continue to Trade Higher With boxed beef prices lower and no cash cattle trade having developed yet, both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets are trading lower. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is trading mixed into Tuesday's noon hour as cattle trade is drifting lower seeming to wait to see what develops fundamentally this week, but the lean hog complex is continuing to charge higher. It's not likely that any developments will surface in the cash cattle market until Thursday or later and at this point no asking prices or bids have been posted. December corn is up 3 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $3.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 53.80 points. LIVE CATTLE: Without any trade having developed yet in the cash market, and with boxed beef prices lower in the morning report, traders are opting to trade cautiously which has consequently sent the live cattle contracts back to trading slightly lower. December live cattle are down $0.20 at $189.07, February live cattle are down $0.32 at $189.77 and April live cattle are down $0.60 at $190.10. It's not likely that any cash cattle trade will develop ahead of Thursday, so today's weaker tone will likely stick with the market through today's close. Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.35 ($323.15) and select down $1.82 ($290.36) with a movement of 81 loads (34.30 loads of choice, 16.17 loads of select, 8.39 loads of trim and 21.97 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex is trading lower into Tuesday's noon hour as traders are waiting to see what develops fundamentally before they'll likely advance the contracts much higher again this week. But even with today's slight correction, the spot January contract is still trading above the market's 100-day moving average which emphasizes the market's underlying bullish nature. November feeders are down $0.87 at $248.27, January feeders are down $1.22 at $245.72 and March feeders are down $1.30 at $244.25. LEAN HOGS: With the continued support of strong pork demand, traders are once again advancing the lean hog contracts into Tuesday's noon hour. December lean hogs are up $2.20 at $82.82, February lean hogs are up $1.07 at $85.30 and April lean hogs are up $0.47 at $87.60. And thankfully the steady gains seen throughout pork cutout values have helped keep traders engaged in the marketplace even though most of the contracts are already trading contract highs. The projected lean hog index for 10/28/2024 is up $0.18 at $85.73 and the actual index for 10/25/2024 is up $0.12 at $85.55. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 1,409 head have traded throughout the day and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $74.79. Pork cutouts total 164.86 loads with 138.95 loads of pork cuts and 25.91 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.26, $102.21. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.