Thursday Closing Livestock Market Summary

Closing Comments 

The feedlot trade was essentially dormant Thursday in the wake of active midweek business. Indeed, we suspect that Wednesday's cash uproar was enough to complete buying and selling needs for the entire week. We could see isolated clean-up on Friday, but don't expect much. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.44 lower ($61.00-$68.50, weighted average $66.33). Corn futures closed several cents higher, modestly supported by commercial buying and decent export numbers. The stock market closed mostly lower with the Dow off 15 points and the Nasdaq near unchanged.

LIVE CATTLE

Are live cattle futures finally ready to bust out of a long-held lateral trading range and start closing the gap on cash premiums? Thursday's higher close seems quite encouraging regarding that possibility. Prices settled 67 to 150 higher with April and June leading the charge. A weekly close above 120 would be seen by many bullish specs as a flashing green light. Beef cut-outs: higher, up $0.73 (select, $213.87) to $1.04 (choice, $222.36) with moderate to fairly good demand and light-to-moderate offerings (50 loads of choice cuts, 22 loads of select cuts, 9 loads of trimmings, 17 loads of coarse grinds).

FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady/firm with the midweek advance. For the most part, business is probably done for the week.

FEEDER CATTLE

Feeders bolted significantly higher with triple-digit progress scored in March through August. Spot March surged over 130 for the first time since Jan. 24. Additionally, closes marked the first time nearby contracts have topped the cash index in many months. CME cash feeder index: 03/15: $128.22 up $0.61.

LEAN HOGS

Thursday's round of business here seemed to be sluggish and apathetic, as if neither bulls nor bears had a good sense of where the market was headed over the short terms. Contracts settled with technical insignificance, ranging from 25 higher to 17 lower. The carcass value closed under pressure, checked by softening demand for fresh cuts, ribs, and bellies. Pork cut-out: $81.34, off $0.84. CME cash lean index for 03/14: $71.99, up $0.05 (DTN Projected lean index for 03/15: $71.84, off $0.15).

FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL

Steady to $1 lower. Look for late-week cash hog bids to be a bit on the sloppy side thanks to defensive wholesale product action and well-covered slaughter plans.