Thursday Closing Livestock Market Summary

Closing Comments 

Though cattle buying interest seemed light to moderate Thursday, packers didn't seem to have enough money to own many cattle. A few scattered deals were evident in Texas (i.e., $128, $2 lower on a live basis) and parts of the North (i.e., $205-$208, $2 to $5 lower dressed). According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.75 lower ($56.00-62.50, weighted average $61.92). The corn market drifted a penny or so lower tied to cautious jockeying before Friday's USDA Planting Intentions and Grain Stocks reports. The stock market closed higher with the Dow up 69 points and the Nasdaq positive by 16.

LIVE CATTLE

Spooked by defensive cut-outs and the possibility of a topping cash market, live contracts retreated with particular selling pressure on spot April. Generally speaking, contracts finished 35 points lower. April closed right on 120, the price level that previously defined tough overhead resistance. Beef cut-outs: sharply lower, off $1.71 (choice, $215.31) to $2.21 (select, $208.05) with light to moderate demand and moderate offerings (75 loads of choice cuts, 31 loads of select cuts, 9 loads of trimmings, 15 loads of coarse grinds).

FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady to $2 lower. Look for light to moderate trade volume to finally surface before the weekend break. While some packers are short-bought, processing margins are clearly narrowing.

FEEDER CATTLE

Feeder issues closed sharply lower with most contracts settling with triple-digit losses. Aggressive long liquidation was triggered by ideas that feedlot sales may have already seen a seasonal top come and go. CME cash feeder index: 03/29: $132.85 off $0.51.

LEAN HOGS

Given the aggressive sell-off seen over the last several weeks, many specs and commercials decided to engage in short-covering right before the release of a major quarterly inventory. When the final smoke cleared, lean issues settled 25 to 150 higher, pleasing to country feelings but hardly of technical significance. The March 1 H&P report published Thursday afternoon generally fit nicely with trade expectations: all hogs, up 4%; kept for breeding, up 1%; kept for marketing, up 4%. The carcass value lost another buck Thursday with all major primals quoted lower. Pork cut-out: $75.18, off $1.04. CME cash lean index for 03/28: $69.40, off $0.38 (DTN Projected lean index for 03/29: $68.86, off $0.54).

FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL

Steady to $1 lower. Hog buyers should continue to use the bearish ammo of generous country offerings and struggling pork demand as procurement leverage. Expect them to open in the morning with steady to $1 lower bids.