Thursday Closing Livestock Market Summary

Closing Comments

The cash cattle trade was virtually motionless following Wednesday's aggressive display of packer spending. We did hear of some high grading steers in Iowa selling for as much as $134. According to the closing report, the national hog base is .20 lower ($51.00-55.50, weighted average $54.07). Corn futures settled 4 cents lower, pressured by ongoing worries about the size of total South American production. The stock market closed higher with the Dow up 174 points and the Nasdaq positive by 53.

LIVE CATTLE

Although live contracts never regained the bullish froth evident through the first hour of trading, the market still closed with another round of solid gains. Prices settled generally 15 to 170 higher with spot April huffing and puffing the most to keep up with the blistering pace of feedlot cash. June closed 52 points higher, but still 100 below its early session high. Given the way the summer issues lag more and more behind the front end, you can tell that many remain skeptical about the ability of spring bulls to stick their neck very far into the second half of the second quarter. Beef cut-outs: significantly higher, up .55 (choice, $215.72) to $1.57 (select, $203.57) with light to moderate demand and moderate offerings (50 loads of choice cuts, 36 loads of select cuts, 9 loads of trimmings, 16 loads of coarse grinds).

FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Firm with Wednesday's full advance. While clean-up action here and there is possible, we suspect that most cash biz is already done for the week.

FEEDER CATTLE

Feeder futures settled mostly 12 to 77 points lower, reversing hard from early session highs (e.g., August closed nearly 300 points below its early high). CME cash feeder index: 04/19: 137.65 up 1.01.

LEAN HOGS

Specs have been waiting for weeks and weeks for hints of improving fundamentals. Given the way prices collapsed Thursday, more than a few are sick of the vigil. Triple-digit losses dominated Thursday's action, with summer contracts closing at their lowest levels since last October. More specifically, the selling was fueled by long liquidation and technical bearishness. Carcass value closed some lower tied to softer demand for butts, ribs, and bellies. Pork cut-out: $74.59, off .20. CME cash lean index for 04/18: 61.89, off .23 (DTN Projected lean index for 04/19: 61.59, off .30).

FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL

Steady to $1 lower. Late-week cash bids are expected to open in the morning on a steady to $1 lower basis.