Cattle futures have been stuck in a narrow trading range through most of the morning with front month contracts holding narrow gains. Deferred feeder cattle futures are under pressure as any current supply adjustments are finding limited support midday. Lean hog futures are holding light to moderate gains as traders adjust from previous market losses. Corn markets are lower in light trade. March corn futures are 2 1/4 cent lower. Stock markets are higher in light trade. Dow Jones is 294 points higher with Nasdaq up 66 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle futures are contained in a very narrow trading range with prices from 10 cents lower to 17 cents higher. This break away from recent market gains is showing some significant resistance levels starting to develop with February futures near $122.50 per cwt. The overall support in the complex continues to focus on the ability to move beef prices higher through the end of the year. Cash cattle activity is still generally sluggish through the morning Wednesday. Bids are still hard to find although packer interest is expected to slowly improve over the next couple of days. Asking prices are expected to be hold near $122 live and $192 and higher dressed. Active trade may not be seen until Friday. Boxed Beef cut-outs at midday are mixed, $1.02 higher (select) and down $0.64 per cwt (choice) with light movement of 69 total loads reported (40 loads of choice cuts, 11 loads of select cuts, 8 loads of trimmings, 10 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Early gains seen Wednesday morning have quickly eroded as more volume has moved into the complex. Prices continue to hold in a narrow trading range with prices hovering from 40 cents lower in deferred contracts, to a 15 cent gain in front month January futures. The lack of follow through support is focusing on midweek position taking as well as light buyer support in front month futures based on expected feeder cattle numbers in the cattle on feed reports at the end of the week. Even though early market estimates are expected to show a moderate pullback in placements in the month of December, a portion of this supply shift has already been factored into the market.
LEAN HOGS:
Limited activity has been seen through the entire morning trading session in lean hog futures. This is creating additional underlying concerns as initial price support has not held. Nearby contracts are trading 20 to 40 cents higher at midday. This is well below session highs, and creating the concern that additional underlying pressure will creep back into the complex before the end of the trading session. Sharp losses of $5 per cwt in nearby contracts through the last two weeks is still holding a bearish tone over the entire complex as buyers seem reluctant to move back into the market over the near future. Cash prices are higher on the National Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price is $0.13 higher at $45.97 per cwt with the range from $40.00 to $46.49 on 3,772 head reported sold. Cash prices are lower on the Iowa/Minnesota Direct morning cash hog report. The weighted average price is $0.68 lower at $44.60 per cwt with the range from $40.00 to $45.00 on 732 head reported sold. Pork carcass values fell $1.26 per cwt at $70.74 per cwt on 173 loads. Lean hog index for 12/17 is $55.07, down 0.06, with a projected two-day index is $55.00, down 0.07.
 |
| #completecalfcare |
No comments:
Post a Comment