Thursday Closing Livestock Market Summary - Hogs and Pigs Report near Expectations

GENERAL COMMENTS:

Livestock futures closed in the negative with lean hogs closing substantially lower. Hog futures fell $0.90 to $1.75 with December taking the brunt of the selling. Feeder cattle futures lost $0.45 to $0.60 while live cattle closed $0.20 to $0.32 lower. A few more bids showed up, but bids and offers remain apart. Bids remained at $109 to $110 with dressed at $174. Some light trade in parts of the North, mostly Nebraska at $174, generally $1.00 lower than last week on a weighted average basis. December corn futures closed 1.75 cents higher. The Dow Jones closed 55 point higher at 26,440, while the HASDAQ gained 52 points, closing at 8.042.

LIVE CATTLE:

Futures closed with narrow losses, with contracts $0.27 to $0.65 lower. Slaughter totaled 120,000 head, about even with last week, but 2,000 head below a year ago. Contracts followed a similar pattern as feeders trimmed their early losses. Beef cut-outs were lower (down $0.39 select and down $0.14 choice). There were 144 total load counts (52 loads of choice cuts. 47 loads of select cuts, 10 loads of trimmings and 35 loads of ground beef.

FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL:

Steady to $1.00 lower. Light cash trade Thursday, $1.00 lower, which may set the stage for lower offers as the week ends. Active trade should develop.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Feeder cattle trimmed earlier losses as the initial round of selling abated. Traders digested the upcoming trade talks with Japan and began focusing back on beef demand. Futures closed in the middle of the price range that has been developing over the past two weeks. Corn prices have been creeping higher, but a large crop to be harvested leaves little concern feed prices will rise too much. The seven-day average price for 700-800 pound feeder steers is $158.13, up $0.09 per cwt. Feeder cattle index for 9/26 is $158.13, up $0.09.

LEAN HOGS:

The quarterly Hogs and Pigs report showed all hogs and pigs at 103% of last year. Hogs kept for breeding at 103%. Kept for marketing at 103%. Each category was below the average trade estimate. This should be supportive to the market on Friday despite the numbers being higher than last year. Traders even up position prior to the report leaves room for renewed buying interest in futures. The lean hog index for 9/26 is $65.34, up $1.59.

FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL:

Cash is expected to remain steady as buyers will be cautious as trade opens. The hogs and pigs report was neutral, showing little need for buyers to get excited about offers being raised.

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