Monday Closing Livestock Market Summary - Cattle Futures Reverse From Early Strength to Close No Better Than Mixed

GENERAL COMMENTS

Cash cattle players limited their efforts Monday to the distribution of new showlists. The fed offering looks generally larger than last week with only Texas showing fewer steers and heifers. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.69 higher ($44-$53, weighted average $50.82). Corn continued to ignore the cold spring and threats of planting delays by closing nearly 4 cents lower. The stock market closed higher with the Dow positive by 212 points and the Nasdaq up 49.

LIVE CATTLE

Initially inspired by greater packer spending late last week, live futures opened sharply higher. Yet general bullishness began to fade near midsession, and when all the dust settled, only April and June managed to close in the green (though 125 to 178 below their early higher). Overall, live issues finished mixed, up 60 to off 25. Beef cut-outs: narrowly mixed, up $0.07 (select: $199.98) to off $0.02 (choice: $211.79) with light-to-moderate demand and moderate offerings (51 loads of choice cuts, 30 loads of select cuts, 15 loads of trimmings, 19 loads of ground beef).

TUESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady to $2 higher. Cash action is expected to be limited on Tuesday with both bids and asking prices poorly defined. Feedlot managers seem to have greater confidence following Friday's better trade. It would probably take sudden basis opportunities (e.g., created by plunging futures and near-steady cash bids) to otherwise trigger early week biz.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Bulls should have taken the picture here earlier as well. Logically, when deferred live contracts started to fade, feeders were not far behind. Futures closed mostly up 25 to off 32. On an estimated run of 8,100 head (up from 4,295 last week and 5,688 in 2017), Oklahoma City sold feeder steers and heifers $2-$5 higher. Steers calves weighing 500-600 pounds were marked $2-$3 higher. Heifer calves were not well tested. CME cash feeder index: 04/13: $137.59, up $1.17.

LEAN HOGS:

With spot April off the board and the cash index substantially discounted to May/June, lean futures had little to point to in terms of stability. Prices closed solidly lower, off 25 to 152. Carcass value closed sharply higher with substantial gains reported in all primals except the picnic. Pork cut-out: $68.15, up $1.82. CME cash lean index for 04/12: $53.23, up $0.26 (DTN Projected lean index for 04/13: $53.53, up $0.30).

TUESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL:

$1-$2 higher. Monday's combo of sharply higher wholesale product prices and light country receipts suggests that hog buyers will be more aggressive in the morning.