Firming support has moved into the cattle market through late morning. This is helping to bring additional underlying support to the entire complex. Lean hog futures remained under pressure early in the session, but have moved higher at midday in nearby contracts. Corn prices are higher in light trade. May corn futures are 5 cents higher. Stock markets are mixed in light trade. The Dow Jones is 19 points lower while Nasdaq is up 2 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Moderate to strong buyer support is attempting to step back into the live cattle trade. This may help to draw additional buyer interest through not only late Wednesday trade, but through the rest of the week. April futures are leading the market with an 82 cent gain, as buyers seem content to back away from early price pressure. Cash cattle interest is sluggish with only a few bids developing in the South at $119 per cwt. Interest is likely to increase through the day, although trade may be held off until later in the week. The Fed Cattle Exchange Auction today listed a total of 3,194 head, with zero actually sold, 2,966 head listed as unsold, and 228 head listed as PO (Passed Offer). The state by state breakdown looks like this: KS 365 total head, with 0 head sold, 137 head unsold, 228 head listed as PO ($120.25-$121.00); NE 2,829 total head, with 0 head, 2,829 head unsold, and zero head listed as PO; TX - no cattle reported; CO - no cattle reported; IA - no cattle reported; other states (OK, SD, MN) - no cattle reported. The delivery date/weighted averages breakdown is as listed: 1-9 day delivery: 3,194 head total, 0 head sold; 1-17 day delivery - no cattle reported; 10-17 day delivery - no cattle reported; 17-30 day delivery - no cattle reported. Boxed Beef cut-outs at midday are higher, $1.55 higher (select) and up $0.96 per cwt (choice) with active movement of 85 total loads reported (41 loads of choice cuts, 20 loads of select cuts, 11 loads of trimmings, 12 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle futures have posted moderate gains at midday after struggling to gain much momentum through the morning. Early mixed trade have given way to light buyer activity with prices 20 to 50 cents per cwt higher. Given the price shift late morning, some additional buyer support may continue to move back into the complex and add underlying interest to the market.
LEAN HOGS:
Early pressure seen in lean hog futures has eased at midday with the overall lack of additional volume moving into the market allowed nearby prices to shift higher. May contracts are leading the complex higher with a 42 cent per cwt gain. Other nearby contracts are hovering between 10 and 25 cents per cwt higher with the focus on market activity and trade volume through the rest of the complex. Pressure in deferred markets continue, but this is limiting any additional movement into most contracts. Cash prices are higher on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price is up $0.16 at $58.23 per cwt with the range from $52.00 to $59.00 on 3,441 head reported sold. Cash prices are unreported due to confidentiality on the Iowa/Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The National Pork Plant Report posted 167 loads selling with carcass values adding $1.46 per cwt. Lean hog index for 4/23 is at $59.00 up 1.12 with a projected two-day index of $60.44, up 1.44.
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