DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/13 11:42

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/13 11:42 No New Bids Have Surfaced in the Cash Market It's been a lackadaisical day throughout the livestock complex as the contracts are trading mixed and the only major business left to be tended to is if some more cattle trade in the Southern plains. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Although there's expected to be some more cash cattle trade in the market ahead of today's end, at this point no new bids have surfaced. If packers don't get some more cattle bought, they'll be heading into next week's market short bought which could give feedlot managers the opportunity to push prices even higher. March corn is down 2 1/2 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $2.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 93.37 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex is trading mixed into Friday's noon hour as the market is pushing slightly higher in its nearby contracts as fundamental support has been plentiful this week, but the deferred contracts are trading slightly lower. December live cattle are up $0.67 at $192.80, February live cattle are up $0.42 at $191.25 and April live cattle are up $0.17 at $192.35. And even though the spot February contract pulled back slightly on Thursday and closed lower, today's higher note is helping the contract remain above last week's sideways trading range. No new cash cattle trade has developed yet, but it's expected that some more cattle will trade in at least the South if not both regions. Asking prices for cattle left on showlists are around $193 plus in the South, and $306 plus in the North. Thus far this week Northern cattle have traded in a wide range, anywhere from $302 to $311 with last week's weighted average sitting at $296.69 for Nebraska, and southern live cattle have traded anywhere from $190 to $191, which is steady to $1.00 higher than last week's weighed average. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.66 ($315.90) and select up $2.37 ($282.85) with a movement of 87 loads (59.75 loads of choice, 10.94 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 16.20 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex is trading lower as the market endures some strenuous technical pressure. The market's resistance at $260 seems again to be too much for the market to bear as the board has changed its direction and is again trailing lower. January feeders are down $1.17 at $257.17, March feeders are down $1.42 at $257.15 and April feeders are down $1.37 at $257.85. Meanwhile, the demand in the countryside remains impeccable which is continuing to be evidenced by the CME feeder cattle index which closed at $263.07 just yesterday afternoon. LEAN HOGS: Thankfully the lean hog complex is continuing to rally off the support plane established in the contracts earlier this week and low and behold, the morning's carcass price is even higher which is helping to lend some additional fundamental support. February lean hogs are up $0.97 at $85.45, April lean hogs are up $1.12 at $89.57 and June lean hogs are up $0.95 at $100.75. And while the belly is undoubtedly leading the charge in gains today for the various pork cuts with its $12.37 jump, most of the cuts are trading at least $3.00 higher with the only cut seeing a decrease being the rib. The projected lean hog index for 12/12/2024 is down $0.01 at $83.90, and the actual index for 12/11/2024 is up $0.30 at $83.91. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.72 with a weighted average price of $78.36, ranging from $71.00 to $80.00 on 1,288 head and a five-day rolling average of $80.38. Pork cutouts total 185.98 loads with 176.38 loads of pork cuts and 9.61 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.86, $96.17. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.