Tuesday Closing Livestock Market Summary - Late-Summer Lean Hog Contracts Quickly Reclaim Market Ground Lost on Monday

GENERAL COMMENTS

Feedlot country remained very quiet Tuesday with just a few bids noted in parts of the North. Some Southern showlists were priced at $117 or better. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.78 higher ($72-$81, weighted average $78.68). The corn trade spiked generally a dime higher, supported by lower ending stocks reported by the World Board and short-covering. The stock market closed on a mixed basis with the Dow off 1 point and the Nasdaq up 43.

LIVE CATTLE

Pressured through much of the trading session, late short-covering helped live issues settle mostly higher. For the most part, contracts finished 7 to 47 higher with only spot June closing modestly lower (off 12). Nothing of technical significance seemed to surface through the day. Beef cut-outs: mixed, up $0.59 (select: $203.39) to off $0.21 (choice: $224.92) with light-to-moderate demand and light offerings (60 loads of choice cuts, 27 loads of select cuts, 9 loads of trimmings, 24 loads of ground beef).

WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady to $2 higher. Packer inquiry could start to improve at midweek, but we really don't expect much action before Thursday or Friday.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Feeder issues closed 15 to 82 points lower with the nearbys holding up better than deferreds. The recovery in the corn market may have worked somewhat to check buying interest here. CME feeder index 06/11: $140.95, up $0.34.

LEAN HOGS:

With spot June scheduled to expire on Thursday and early summer fundamentals steadily improving, buying interest in July through October managed to find new bullish life. Indeed, soon-to-be-spot July recovered all of Monday's setback and then some, closing back above 81 for the first time since March 5. The carcass value continued to appreciate at a decent pace. All primals made significant contributions except the loin and butt. Pork cut-out: $81.30, up $0.86. CME cash lean index for 06/08: $75.79, up $1.22 (DTN Projected lean index for 06/11: $77.18, up $1.39).

WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL:

$1 higher. Opening cash bids at midweek should be firm as hog buyers juggle tightening country numbers and higher wholesale prices.