Tuesday Closing Livestock Market Summary - Feeder Cattle Futures Hit Hard By Another Leg in Corn Rally

GENERAL COMMENTS

As expected, the cash cattle trade Tuesday remained at a virtual standstill with just a few Northern bids noted at $174 and some showlists priced around $115 live and $182 plus dressed. Additionally, some Southern bids have been reported at $109-$110. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $1.46 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($56-$62, weighted average $59.54). The corn market finished another nickel or so higher, supported by sharply higher action in the bean trade. The stock market closed 108 points higher basis the Dow and 41 higher on the Nasdaq.

LIVE CATTLE

Live futures settled on a mixed basis (i.e., up 7 to off 75) with nearby contracts attracting more selling interest than deferreds. Beef cut-outs: mixed, up $0.40 (select: $198.38) to off $0.45 (choice: $204.27) with light to moderate demand and offerings (55 loads of choice cuts, 28 loads of select cuts, 19 loads of trimmings, 15 loads of ground beef).

WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady. We could see a few more bids and asking prices surface at midweek, but significant trade volume might be delayed until Thursday or Friday.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Feeder issues settled 25 to 217 lower with the first four months suffering triple-digit losses. Besides the lackluster tone in the live trade, nearby feeders were pressured by another round of considerable strength in the corn market. CME feeder index 07/30: $149.04, off $0.16.

LEAN HOGS:

Lean hog futures closed mostly lower with only Feb through May settling modestly higher. Spot August lost as much as 217 points, motivated by the rather aggressive erosion of the cash index. The carcass value closed moderately lower, mainly pressured by another big loss on the belly primal (i.e., $10.26). Pork cut-out: $74.54, off $2.43. CME cash lean index for 07/27: $72.17, off $1.29 (DTN Projected lean index for 07/30: $70.80, off $1.37).

WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL:

$1-$2 lower. Look for hog buyers to keep swinging away at midweek, further exploiting large country offerings and undependable pork demand.