GENERAL COMMENTS:
The market concluded that the day was safe and contracts could trade fully higher Wednesday. The only sector of the livestock markets that continues to struggle are the cash cattle prices. Hog prices closed higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.60 with a weighted average of $50.60. May corn is up 3 3/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $1.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1,173.45 points and NASDAQ is up 334.00 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle contracts successfully closed the day with modest gains throughout the market. Nearby contracts gained slightly more position that deferred contracts, but all the contracts closed higher. April live cattle closed $1.17 higher at $111.27, June live cattle closed $1.15 higher at $104.52 and August live cattle closed $1.00 higher at $104.55. A light trade was reported Wednesday morning in the South at $113, $2 lower than previous week's weighted average. The North continues to remain
very quiet. Significant trade volume in the North will likely be delayed until Thursday and/or Friday.
Boxed beef cutouts closed mixed: choice up $0.20 ($206.82) and select down $1.19 ($201.51) with a movement of 170 loads (109.80 loads of choice, 17.42 loads of select, 8.50 loads of trim and 33.88 loads of ground beef). Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head, 1,000 head less than a week ago and 7,000 head more than a year ago.
THURSDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady with the week's trend. Once the market starts to establish a trend, it's extremely hard to push the market higher.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle contracts closed the day fully higher with gains anywhere from $1.32 to $2.37. March feeders closed $1.32 higher at $134.85, April feeders closed $1.77 higher at $135.55 and May feeders closed $2.37 higher at $136.42. At Huss Livestock Market in Kearney, Nebraska, 3,109 head of feeders sold, and in comparison to last week, steers and heifers sold steady. There was instances of $5.00 higher on flat 600 to 750 pound steers. Demand was good throughout the day and was especially good for F1 baldy replacement heifers. There was two lots of F1 baldies that weighed around 750 pounds that sold for $1.57 to $1.59. The crowd was normal for the most part with a few extra farmer feeders in the seats. The CME feeder cattle index 3/3/2020: down $0.25, $133.75.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex closed higher in both the cash market and on the board. April lean hogs closed $0.75 higher at $64.30, June lean hogs closed $0.75 higher at $78.82 and July lean hogs closed $0.67 higher at $80.15. Given the market disruption that the livestock sector has endured as of late, it's a very positive thing when both markets close higher. Pork cutouts totaled 341.50 loads with 312.30 loads of pork cuts and 29.19 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.31, $65.74. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 495,000 head, steady with a week ago and 20,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 3/2/2020: down $0.03, $56.22.
THURSDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. As I've mentioned before, the market may have closed higher through Wednesday's close but that doesn't mean that it's in the free and clear for the next little while. The market is still heavily influenced by the coronavirus and if there were to be a major headline come out about the virus worsening, the market would move lower without thinking twice.
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