GENERAL COMMENTS: Livestock futures ended mixed Thursday in light trade, leaving traders to ponder further directional shifts early next week. From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: Apr live cattle up $1.60; Jun live cattle up $0.30; Apr feeder cattle up $0.38; Aug feeder cattle up $0.23; Jun lean hogs up $0.63; Jun lean hogs up $0.63. Markets will be closed Friday in observance of Good Friday, opening at normal times Monday. Light-to-moderate cash cattle trade developed in the North Thursday with prices at $130 to $132 live and $208 dressed. This is $3 per cwt higher than last week. Combined with Southern trade Wednesday at $126, $2 per cwt higher, the tone of the market appears to be set. There may be some additional clean-up trade late Thursday or sometime Friday, but most business needing to be done is likely in the books late afternoon Thursday. The National Daily Direct afternoon hog report was $0.96 higher ($71-$81, weighted average $77.93) on 11,248 head sold. Corn futures were mixed in light trade with May up 1/4 cent per bushel. The Dow Jones Index was 111 points higher with Nasdaq up 2 points.
LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle futures settled mixed ($0.10 lower to $1.60 higher) in light trade. Moderate-to-strong support pushed spot-month April up $1.60 per cwt. The rest of the complex remained stuck in a narrow trading range with limited interest seen. Additional market shifts will likely be seen over the next few trading sessions following an increase in cattle on feed numbers in the USDA Cattle on Feed report Thursday, which may limit upward support. However, the focus is still on seasonal demand, which could limit any long-term pressure. Beef cut-outs: mixed, down $0.70 (select, $219.46) to up $0.30 (choice, $233.06) with light demand and offerings, 114 loads (64 loads of choice cuts, 26 loads of select cuts, 7 load of trimmings, 16 loads of coarse grinds).
FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady with Thursday's trade. Following trade Wednesday and Thursday where cattle sold $2 to $3 per cwt higher than week-ago levels, most trade is expected to be wrapped up for the week. Some clean-up trade may trickle into the market, but the tone is expected to have already been set.
FEEDER CATTLE: Moderate late-day support pushed feeder cattle futures to close $0.22 to $0.92 higher. Limited activity was seen through the entire complex with traders focusing on end-of-week positioning and overall support. The May contract led the complex higher with a 92-cent gain. The April 1 Cattle on Feed report showed a 5% increase in cattle placed in March. This was above pre-report estimates and was near the top of the range of guesses. The increase in placements is likely to be viewed as slightly bearish, although traders seem to have already factored some increased placement levels into the market over the last couple of weeks. Traders will have to wait until Monday to trade report information due to markets being closed Friday. CME cash feeder index for 4/16 is $143.58, up $0.12.
LEAN HOGS: Lean hog futures closed mixed, $0.22 lower to $1.27 higher. Thursday morning started with the announcement that China purchased an additional 23,500 metric tons of pork through the last week, but this had little positive on the market, which apparently was looking for significantly larger sales to China due to that country's expected need to fill their supply chain due to losses from African swine Flu. The May contract posted a triple-digit gain, but the extremely light open interest in the May contract makes a wide market shift very unreliable given the overall lack of trade. As an example, the May contract has a total open interest of 3,000 contracts. By comparison, June has 81,200 contracts. Outside of gains in the May futures contract, most other contracts closed steady to slightly lower. Traders are looking for additional direction early Monday due to markets remaining closed Friday. Pork cutouts gained support following strong moves in picnic, rib and belly primals. Pork cutout values added $0.85 per cwt, moving to $87.85 per cwt on 295 loads. CME cash lean index for 4/16 is $80.24, up $0.40. DTN Projected lean index for 4/17 $80.63, up $0.39.
FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to $1 higher. Steady-to-firm market direction is expected through the end of the week with no additional futures trade Friday to direct cash activity. Most bids are expected steady early Friday morning. Friday slaughter is expected at 438,000 head. Saturday runs are estimated at 89,000 head. Monday slaughter is expected at 345,000 head.
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